Opposition urging Mar Roxas to run for Senate – Bam Aquino

Certain groups are urging defeated presidential candidate Mar Roxas to run again as senator, Sen. Bam Aquino said on Monday.

Aquino, who is seeking reelection in the 2019 midterm elections, said he had not talked with Roxas lately and had no idea if the 2016 administration bet were interested in the Senate race.

“But I know there are (opposition) groups prodding him to run,” the senator said.

Roxas ranked 14th to 19th in the 12-seat Senate race in the latest Pulse Asia survey.

Aquino himself was the lone opposition member in the Magic 12 of the survey, ranked 10th to 19th.

Roxas, who placed second to President Duterte in the May 2016 elections, and Aquino are both members of the opposition Liberal Party.

Opposition ticket

Aquino told reporters that talks were still ongoing on efforts of the opposition to field a full senatorial ticket next year.

The senator said the talks included representatives from the Catholic Church, sociocivic organizations and other groups with grievances against the policies of the Duterte administration.

“I think people are looking not only for old faces and old names. They are also looking for new faces and new names, and maybe we might see this as the new face of the opposition,” Aquino said.

The opposition will unveil its slate before October, or before the date in which candidates will be required to file their certificates of candidacy, he said.

Asked whether the opposition would adopt reelectionist senators, Aquino said it was too early to say as the political situation was “fluid.” But he said the opposition was open to such a possibility.