There’s room for two Magsaysays in Senate, says Mitos

Zambales Rep. Milagros Magsaysay. PHOTO FROM congress.gov.ph

MANILA, Philippines—There’s enough room in the Senate for two Magsaysays.

So declared Zambales Representative Milagros “Mitos” Magsaysay on Friday in reaction to Senator Franklin Drilon’s announcement that former senator Ramon “Jun” Magsaysay Jr. would join the Liberal Party’s senatorial slate next year. The former senator is the namesake of well-loved former President Ramon Magsaysay.

“If voters believe we are both qualified to run in the Senate, they can shade both our names in the ballot. Two Magsaysays can sit in the Senate,” Magsaysay told Inquirer in a phone interview.

Magsaysay noted that members of the same political clan have served at the same time in electoral posts, among them Cayetano siblings Pia and Alan Peter, so sharing the same session hall with her uncle would not be unusual in the country’s clannish political system.

She also bristled at Drilon’s statement about the Liberal Party fielding the “real Magsaysay” in Magsaysay Jr., saying that the LP stalwart had gone “too far.”

“I am not a fake. I am using Magsaysay because that is my husband’s name. Is that illegal? (Drilon) should know because he’s supposed to be a lawyer,” said Magsaysay who recently joined Vice President Jejomar Binay’s coalition slate, United Nationalist Alliance.

Magsaysay said that she has not spoken with her uncle over their respective political plans.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve spoken to each other,” she said. “I have not yet confirmed whether he is indeed running or not. What is confirmed is that the LP seems so desperate to beat me that they are trying to convince somebody out of retirement to run specifically against me. It speaks so much about their insecurity,” said the UNA candidate who is married to former Zambales governor Vic Magsaysay.

Instead of confusing voters with two Magsaysays on the list of senatorial bets, the Zambales lawmaker said that she and her uncle would even complement each other by bolstering the Magsaysay name when they campaign under two senatorial slates. “People would hear the Magsaysay name so (often) in the next election (that) it would help both of us in our campaign, especially if the voters think that we are qualified for the post and the best among the field. So I see it as a win-win (situation),” said Magsaysay.

Detractors have criticized Representative Magsaysay for being a staunch ally of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, but she pointed out that some of the LP members, including Drilon, were also supporters of the detained leader.