Angara: ‘It hasn’t sunk in’

Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara. RYAN LEAGOGO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — “It still hasn’t sunk in,” Senator-elect Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara said Thursday night of his win in the May 13 midterm elections although his namesake and father, the outgoing senator, wasn’t surprised.

In a chance interview with reporters at the Philippine International Convention Center, the older Angara said that they expected his son, a candidate of the Liberal Party-led Team PNoy coalition, to secure a spot in the top 12.

“We expected that he would get in because of his trajectory from the beginning. He consistently improved unlike other candidates,” said the older Angara.

But what came as a surprise to the senator was that his son ranked sixth.

“We expected him to rank seventh to ninth. We are very happy (with how it turned out),” he told reporters.

The younger Angara arrived at around 7 p.m. at the PICC with his wife Tootsy, and children Javier, Manolo, and Ynes in tow.

Asked about his win, the former Aurora legislator said that he had been “running scared” the entire 90 days of the campaign, afraid of being caught in the fringes of the much sought after Magic 12.

“I think it’s the combined effort of my father, my family, supporters and old and new hands from my father’s campaign before that contributed to my win,” he said.

The older Angara had been “very active behind the scenes,” according to the former Aurora congressman.

“He would call up governors and congressmen since he has built up quite a network through time,” he said.

But minutes before his proclamation, the younger Angara admitted that although he felt relieved by the news of his proclamation “it hasn’t sunk in yet.”

After the hectic campaigning and the grueling wait for the midterm elections’ winners, he said he was hoping to be able to make time for a vacation with his family.

After that, it is back to work for the young Angara who said he was looking forward to studying what would be his priority bills in the Senate.