An entertaining Senate

When President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. announced his senatorial slate for the 2025 midterm elections, former Senate President Franklin Drilon said it is composed of people who can sing or dance. In another interview, he described the slate as a hodgepodge of personalities driven by name recall.

It was a frank putdown of the administration’s candidates for the Senate. He has basis for his low assessment of them. He spent many years in the Senate with some of the nominees: Tito Sotto, Bong Revilla, Lito Lapid, and Manny Pacquiao. Netizens’ reactions are just as disparaging. Here are some comments about the lineup in social media:

• A senatorial ticket just right for the bobotantes (a portmanteau of bobo or stupid and botantes or voters).

• The list of candidates voters should not vote for.

• A slate that discourages one to vote.

• A bunch of showbiz people.

• Multiple dynasties in the making.

• Government service turned into family business.

I understand the disappointment, nay dismay, even disdain of the more discerning citizens over the administration’s candidates for senator. The Senate is that assembly of people mandated to enact laws and enunciate national policies that promote the people’s welfare, empower the poor and weak, stimulate economic growth, institute good governance, promote the rule of law, strengthen democracy, protect the environment and the nation’s rich cultural heritage, and build an equitable, prosperous, and orderly society.

The Senate is usually referred to as the “august body.” When pronounced with the accent on the second syllable, “august” means majestic, dignified, imposing. Not anymore as the Senate is now populated by people with popular names, their popularity gained as a movie actor or television show host. Next year the Senate will likely be overpopulated with such people.

Based on the survey Pulse Asia ran between Nov. 26 and Dec. 3, Erwin Tulfo, Tito Sotto, Bong Go, Ben Tulfo, Pia Cayetano, Manny Pacquiao, Ping Lacson, Willie Revillame, Bong Revilla, Abby Binay, Lito Lapid, and Imee Marcos have a statistical chance of winning any of the 12 seats up for grabs in the May 2025 elections.

The Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey conducted from Dec. 12 to 18 indicated that candidates Erwin and Ben Tulfo, Revilla, Sotto, and Pacquiao will likely be elected senators. Also shown by the survey as likely winners are Cayetano, Go, Lacson, Binay, Lapid, Villar, Dela Rosa or Marcos.

They are not necessarily the best and the brightest — no legal luminary, eminent economist, dedicated community builder, brilliant military commander — but definitely the most popular among the senatorial candidates.

Tito Sotto, a multi-term senator, was first catapulted to the Senate in 1992 by his popularity gained as a mainstay in the TV sitcom Iskul Bukol and as a co-host on the TV noontime variety show Eat Bulaga. Pia Cayetano gained fame as the host of Compañero y Compañera, a public affairs talk show that provided free legal assistance to listeners in need of information and guidance. Brothers Erwin and Ben Tulfo became public figures because of their public service TV programs — Erwin through Ulat Bayan, PTV’s flagship primetime news program, and Ben through BITAG, a documentary-reality and investigative public service program.

Willie Revillame is a television host, actor, comedian, and singer. He has hosted several high-rating TV entertainment programs. He has also appeared in various movies, often playing sidekick to big-named stars. Bong Revilla and Lito Lapid were first popular as movie action stars. Manny Pacquiao was a boxing multiple world champion before entering the political arena. The telecast of his world-title fights drew record-breaking viewership.

If elected, they would join or rejoin incumbent senators Loren Legarda and Raffy Tulfo, both former broadcast personalities; Jinggoy Estrada and Robin Padilla, both-ex movie action stars. Legarda is a true broadcast professional. She graduated cum laude from the University of the Philippines, Diliman with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast communications. She pursued post-graduate courses on special studies towards professional designation in journalism from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She began her broadcast journalism career as a reporter for RPN. She moved to ABS-CBN when it resumed operations immediately after the EDSA Revolution. She was co-anchor of the television newscast, The World Tonight. She went to the Senate straight from the broadcast world.

Raffy Tulfo began as host of several public service programs on ABC 5, a pre-martial law network and sister company of the daily newspaper The Manila Times. He is the man behind the TV programs Raffy Tulfo in Action and Wanted sa Radyo.

A stint in television, either as star in a sitcom like Tito Sotto, a news anchor like Loren Legarda, or a talk show host like Raffy Tulfo, has proved to be a jumping board to the Senate.

Risa Hontiveros was also in broadcast journalism. After graduating cum laude from Ateneo de Manila with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Sciences, she worked for networks IBC and GMA, co-anchoring programs like Firing Line and Headline Trese. She also served as Secretary-General of the Coalition for Peace. It was her advocacy for peace and socio-economic reforms, not her broadcast media personality, that served as her vehicle to the House of Representatives first, then to the Senate.

If brothers Erwin and Ben Tulfo, Pia Cayetano, and Camille Villar are elected, there will be four sets of siblings in the Senate — three Tulfos, two Cayetanos, two Villars, and two Ejercitos or Estradas.

The Senate is a steppingstone to the Presidency. Senate Presidents Manuel Quezon, Manuel Roxas, Ferdinand Marcos, Sr., and Senator Noynoy Aquino went straight from the Senate Hall to Malacañang. Senators Elpidio Quirino, Carlos Garcia, Joseph Estrada, and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had another stone to step on — the Vice Presidency — before getting to Malacañang.

Incumbent Senators Jose Avelino, Claro Recto, Raul Manglapus, Sergio Osmeña, Jr., Ping Lacson, Jamby Madrigal, Richard Gordon, Manny Villar, Miriam Santiago, and Manny Pacquiao all ran for president but lost. So did former Senators Jose Yulo, Ramon Mitra, and Mar Roxas. Bongbong Marcos is the only former senator who eventually got elected president.

The Tulfo, Cayetano, Villar, and Ejercito-Estrada families seem to be enhancing their chances of occupying Malacañang.

Happy New Year, dear readers.

Oscar P. Lagman, Jr. has been a keen observer of Philippine politics since the late 1950s.