PH poll ‘anomaly’: Guest senatorial candidates torn between tickets

Proclamation rally of Sen. Panilo Lacsona and Senate President Vicente Sotto III (Photo from Partido Reporma)

MANILA, Philippines — For the second straight day on Wednesday, several guest senatorial candidates of Partido Reporma did not show up at its campaign kickoff rally, an absence that is likely to recur throughout the 90-day campaign period for national officials in a kind of political anomaly that may be due to a lack of strict party discipline.

Candidates of one party are “endorsed” by other parties or political leaders largely based on the amount of votes and resources they are able to deliver to each other in a bizarre give-and-take that has developed in a multi-party system over the years after the fall of dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.

Most of Reporma’s senatorial slate were noticeably absent, with only five of the candidates joining standard-bearer Sen. Panfilo Lacson and his running mate Senate President Vicente Sotto III on the second day of their campaign.

The only candidates who showed up for the rally were former Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito, former Makati City Rep. Monsour del Rosario, former Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol, former Philippine National Police chief Guillermo Eleazar and eye doctor Minguita Padilla — the same senatorial candidates who joined the Lacson-Sotto team at their proclamation rally in Imus City, Cavite, on Tuesday.

Reporma’s rally on Wednesday was held at Quezon Memorial Circle in Sotto’s bailiwick of Quezon City.

Notably absent

Notably absent for two successive days of political rallies were reelectionist Senators Richard Gordon, Sherwin Gatchalian, Joel Villanueva and Juan Miguel Zubiri, former Vice President Jejomar Binay, and ex-senators who are seeking a comeback — former Information and Communications Secretary Gregorio Honasan II, Antique Rep. Loren Legarda and Sorsogon Gov. Francis Escudero.

Gordon, Legarda and Escudero spoke to voters at the rally with recorded video messages on a large screen, while Gatchalian was represented by his brother, Valenzuela Rep. Wes Gatchalian. Television host Raffy Tulfo, who is also on Sen. Manny Pacquiao’s Promdi Party senatorial lineup, was represented by a family member.

In Tuesday’s Reporma proclamation rally, Zubiri was represented by his wife Audrey, while Honasan was proxied by his sister Alya.

Reporma insiders said the absence of the guest candidates from their rallies was expected and acceptable to the Lacson-Sotto team for as long as they do not endorse other candidates for president and vice president.

Same with TRoPA

A similar rule applies to guest senatorial candidates of the Team Robredo-Pangilinan (TRoPA) of Vice President Leni Robredo and her running mate Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan.

Former Quezon Rep. Erin Tañada, a senior officer of the opposition Liberal Party (LP) and campaign manager of the TRoPa senatorial candidates, said this was the agreement that they had with their five adopted candidates.

Robredo is running for president in the May 9 elections as an independent candidate, but remains as LP chair. Pangilinan, is the party president.

Tañada said guest candidates may still attend the political rallies of other parties, but they should not endorse the presidential and vice presidential candidates.

“We just hope that they will stick to that agreement,” Tañada told the Inquirer.

But there may have been a few violations of this unwritten rule already.

Gatchalian, who is also under the senatorial lineup of Pacquiao, appeared onstage with presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of Partido Federal ng Pilipinas and his running mate Sara Duterte of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats party during their proclamation rally at Philippine Arena on Tuesday.

In his speech, Gatchalian thanked Marcos Jr., whom he called “our president,” and Duterte for including him in their lineup.

Another guest candidate, former Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista, also chose to attend the Marcos-Duterte rally over the proclamation rally of Lacson’s Reporma where he, too, is a guest candidate.

Bautista introduced Marcos Jr. as “the next president of the Republic of the Philippines.”

Zubiri, a guest candidate of the Robredo and Pacquiao campaigns, also joined the Marcos-Duterte team on Tuesday.

He called Marcos Jr. his “tito” (uncle), citing their two families’ friendship since his grade school days.

Zubiri said he joined the Senate slate of Marcos-Duterte UniTeam because he believed in their advocacy, echoing the former dictator’s son’s call for unity among Filipinos.

Term of endearment

Also on the Marcos-Duterte Senate slate are former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, former Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, former Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, Honasan, Legarda, former Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, Rep. Rodante Marcoleta and lawyer Larry Gadon.

Only Legarda and Honasan were absent.

Legarda, who is also part of Pacquiao’s Senate slate, addressed the crowd in another recorded message from Pandan, Antique, where she launched her senatorial campaign.

She called Marcos Jr. “Apo BBM (Bongbong Marcos). It’s the Ilocano term of endearment that his father was called by the dictator’s loyal followers.

Honasan, who was among the leaders of the military mutiny that triggered the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution against the dictator, is also part of Lacson’s Senate lineup but was with pastors of the Victory Christian Fellowship, according to his wife, Jane.

Lawyer Victor Rodriguez, spokesperson for Marcos Jr., said the attendance of the guest candidates at the rally showed that “they heeded the call” for national unity.

Leni’s lineup

Robredo’s senatorial ticket includes seven candidates— reelectionist Senators Leila de Lima and Risa Hontiveros, former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, human rights lawyer Chel Diokno, former Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat, lawyer and author Alex Lacson, and labor rights advocate Sonny Matula.

In addition to Zubiri, their other adopted candidates are Binay, Gordon, Villanueva and Escudero.

Fierce critic

Gordon, who has become a fierce critic of President RODRIGO Duterte after leading the Senate inquiry into the allegedly irregular pandemic deals, was the only guest candidate who attended TRoPa’s campaign kickoff in Naga City on Tuesday.

“I think you cannot deny that political parties, although they may not be as big as before, still have structures on the ground,” Tañada said. “They can still deliver votes for their respective candidates. I think that cannot be denied.”

Former Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares of the Makabayan bloc of progressive party lists, was included in the senatorial slate of the opposition coalition 1Sambayan, but not in the TRoPa lineup.

He is also a guest candidate of Partido Lakas ng Masa, whose standard-bearer is labor leader Leody de Guzman.

Tañada said while they were grateful for the Makabayan’s support for the candidacies of Robredo and Pangilinan, they could not return the favor since their 12-member ticket was already complete.

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