Casiño shows up at Comelec wet and in shorts

Living up to his promise of a new brand of politics, Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casiño showed up at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Wednesday drenched by the rain in his short pants and running shoes to register as a candidate in next year’s senatorial election.

In that rainy-day getup—and condition—Casiño seemed to have drawn more public attention than the two senatorial aspirants from the administration’s Liberal Party who also filed their certificates of candidacy (COC) in Comelec’s headquarters in Intramuros.

Clad in polo shirt and dress     pants, reelectionist Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara signed up for the race about an hour apart after Casiño filed his COC.

The lone candidate of Makabayang Koalisyon ng Mamamayan (Makabayan), a coalition of progressive political parties in the Philippines, Casiño acknowledged that running without backing from giant political groupings like the Liberal Party-led administration coalition and the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) is a challenge.

“But we have to take the challenge because the UNA and the LP coalitions, as you can see, are composed of old faces with the same family names. It’s time to have someone new in the Senate,” Casiño told reporters.

Run to Comelec

Casiño, 43, braved heavy monsoon rains induced by approaching Tropical Storm “Marce” early Wednesday morning and ran from Luneta Park to the Comelec headquarters, where his immediate family waited to give him encouragement as he joined the senatorial race.

“I think this is the first time that you’ve seen a candidate register in short pants,” Casiño said. “We really aim to break the rules of the campaign. We want to prove that a candidate who represents the common people can also win a seat in the Senate.”

Casiño explained that his early morning run meant to show that the race for the Senate required hard work and that it signified that he was representing ordinary people.

“It will be a campaign of platforms, issues and not so much of personalities or guns, goons and gold,” he said.

Support from grassroots

For support, he said he was banking on Makabayan’s broad grassroots machinery.

Outside the Comelec office, his supporters from Makabayan, all carrying blue umbrellas, cheered him on and chanted his name to a rhythm kept up by drummers.

Not long after their departure, Angara’s supporters arrived, continuing the fiesta atmosphere.

Political dynasties

Angara defended his family’s legacy in government, clearly responding to Casiño’s constant refrain against political dynasties.

“We are a dynasty but the difference with us is that we have a legacy … compared to the other dynasties,” he said.

Accompanying him was his father, Sen. Edgardo Angara, his wife and youngest son.

Political dynasties, he said, are not really bad.

“Let us also look at their qualifications,” he said.

Enrile threat

Trillanes put up a brave front when told that Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, one of the leaders of UNA, had threatened to derail his campaign for reelection.

“He can do whatever he wants. I am not afraid of him. The Filipino people know how to scrutinize [candidates] so I leave it up to them,” Trillanes said.

A junior senator, Trillanes quarreled with Enrile last month over a bill that would divide Camarines Sur into two provinces, the new one becoming a fresh congressional district.

The bill failed to pass in time for the 2013 congressional elections.