UNA completes senatorial slate

Former President Joseph Estrada and Vice President Jejomar Binay. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The coalition of ousted President Joseph Estrada and Vice President Jejomar Binay has announced its final slate for the 2013 senatorial elections, led by guest candidates who rated high in recent surveys of “winnable” senatorial aspirants.

The United National Alliance announced Saturday  that Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero will run as a guest candidate of the coalition, rounding up its roster of re-electionists and first-time candidates for next year’s senatorial race.

Binay said Escudero, who was also part of the 2005 coalition Genuine Opposition, leads the UNA senatorial slate with two other guest candidates: re-electionist Senator Loren Legarda and Grace Poe Llamanzares, chair of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board.

UNA, an alliance between Estrada’s Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino and Binay’s PDP-Laban party, is also fielding other incumbent and former lawmakers in the 2013 elections.

Here is the list of UNA’s 12 senatorial candidates: Escudero, Legarda, Llamanzares, Senator Gregorio Honasan, Representative Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, Representative Juan “Jackie” Ponce Enrile, Jr., Representive Milagros “Mitos” Magsaysay, former Senator Ernesto Maceda, former Senator Miguel Zubiri, former Senator Richard Gordon, Tingting Cojuangco, and PDP Laban Secretary General Jose “Joey” de Venecia III.