THE CAMP of presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. on Thursday endorsed 10 senatorial candidates for the May elections.

In a statement, Marcos spokesman Victor D. Rodriguez said the Senate slate includes Antique Rep. Lorna Regina “Loren” B. Legarda, former Defense Secretary Gilberto Eduardo Gerardo C. Teodoro Jr., reelection Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian, former Quezon City Mayor Herbert Constantine M. Bautista, former presidential spokesman Herminio L. Roque, Jr. and former Public Works Secretary Mark A. Villar.

Also endorsed was Jose Pimentel “Jinggoy” P. Ejercito Estrada, who is facing plunder and graft charges involving his pork barrel funds. The former senator was released on bail in 2017 after spending three years in jail.

Mr. Marcos and running mate Sara Duterte-Carpio also backed lawyer Lorenzo G. Gadon, who has been suspended by the Supreme Court for swearing at a journalist, and Party-list Rep. Rodante D. Marcoleta, one of the lawmakers who voted against the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN Corp. in 2020.

The tandem also endorsed reelection Senator Juan Miguel F. Zubiri, who is also part of the senatorial slate of opposition standard bearer Vice-President Maria Leonor “Leni” G. Robredo.

The list “represents a mixture of seasoned and proven political personalities who have excelled in their respective endeavors,” Mr. Rodriguez said.

Meanwhile, Ms. Robredo said her kind of politics is “so different from what Mr. Marcos is offering.” “My kind of politics is transformative,” she told the ABS-CBN News Channel. “I don’t want patronage politics.”

“There’s so much at stake, but what’s at stake is not just my winning or losing this election but what is the direction that we would want our government to take in the next six years,” she added.

Mr. Gadon, who is making his third bid for the Senate, is a Marcos supporter. The Supreme Court suspended him this month over his foul-mouthed remarks against a local journalist in a video that went viral.

Mr. Gadon has questioned his suspension, which he said was issued without due process.

Mr. Marcoleta is a deputy speaker at the House of Representatives. He is known for cutting the budget of the Commission on Human Rights to P1,000 in 2017.

The Marcos-Carpio team said Mr. Zubiri would boost their position in Mindanao, which is a bailiwick of the Zubiri clan. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

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