Seasoned political figures seek Senate comeback

By Chloe Mari A. Hufana, Reporter

PROMINENT politicians allied with President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. formalized their bids for the Senate on the second day of registration on Wednesday.

Former Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III, ex-Senator Panfilo M. Lacson, Sr., and action star turned lawmaker Manuel M. Lapid were among those who filed their certificates of candidacy.

The May 2025 elections will be a litmus test of Mr. Marcos’ popularity and a chance to consolidate power and groom a successor, which the influential Duterte family has signaled it is determined to stop after an acrimonious falling out.

Philippine presidents are limited to a single six-year term.

Though 317 seats at the House of Representatives and thousands of regional and city posts are up for grabs among 18,000 positions, the attention is on 12 spots in the 24-seat Senate, a high-profile chamber with outsized influence and typically stacked with political heavyweights.

Mr. Sotto said he wanted to finish overlooked pet bills including one that seeks to trim the bureaucracy.

“The bill that I filed before that was not acted upon should push through, and that is rightsizing of the government,” he told reporters. He also cited the need to pass an anti-fake news bill, which he proposed in 2019.

Mr. Sotto lost to Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio in the 2022 race. He was Senate president during ex-President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s term.

Mr. Lacson, who lost in the 2022 presidential election as Mr. Sotto’s running mate, said he would be a vanguard of the annual national budget. The former national police chief had been against pork barrel insertions when he was a senator.

“I will help President Marcos pursue his administration’s programs to benefit the majority of the Filipino people,” he told reporters “What is right must be kept right, what is wrong must be set right.”

Mr. Lacson said he is running independently despite the President’s endorsement.

Mr. Lapid declined to entertain questions from the media, saying his track record as a politician should speak for itself.

Meanwhile, presidential sister and Senator Maria Imelda Josefa Remedios “Imee” R. Marcos also filed her certificate. She was accompanied by her two sons and her mother, former First Lady Imelda R. Marcos.

Ms. Marcos, who is seeking reelection, earlier declined her brother’s endorsement, which she said was to avoid putting him in a difficult position.

Hansley A. Juliano, a political science professor at the Ateneo de Manila University, called the familiar names “continuity candidates.”

“They have also tended to be on board traditional legislation, be it business-friendly legislation, additional insertions on preferred budget items, and likely establishing factions in the leadup to the election,” he told BusinessWorld in a Facebook Messenger chat.