ILOILO CITY – The administration’s senatorial candidates under the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas yesterday said President Marcos Jr. did not engage in negative campaigning when he asked Filipinos not to allow the country to return to the period when the country’s leaders were the first to peddle the Philippines to China.
Former Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the President was not throwing mud on the administration’s rival senatorial bets because he was just laying down facts to help voters decide.
“Hindi naman kandidato si Presidente, he was merely stating facts,” Sotto told a press conference in Iloilo City where the slate campaigned yesterday.
Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco, the Alyansa’s campaign manager, on Monday said that administration candidates will not resort to negative campaigning, saying they will rise on their own merits and accomplishments instead of discrediting their rivals from other parties.
Tiangco has said what’s important is “to let our people know how the candidates can help our President’s platform.”
The administration’s senatorial ticket is composed of reelectionist Senators Pia Cayetano, Lito Lapid, Imee Marcos, Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., and Francis Tolentino; former senators Panfilo Lacson, Vicente Sotto III and Manny Pacquiao; Reps. Erwin Tulfo (PL, ACT-CIS) and Camille Villar (Las Piñas City); Makati City Mayor Abby Binay, and former Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos.
Sen. Marcos, the President’s elder sister, Cayetano, Revilla did not attend the press conference.
In his speech during the kick-off campaign rally of the Alyansa, the President took a potshot at allies of former President Rodrigo Duterte who are running in the Senate race, saying none of the administration’s senatorial candidates have been involved in “Oplan: Tokhang,” or the Duterte government’s “bloody” drug war, in alleged pocketing of public funds during the pandemic, in allowing the country to become a foreign gambling site or in applauding China’s harassments and attempts to take over parts of the Philippines and turn it into their province.
Tulfo agreed with Sotto, saying the President had the right to say what he wanted because he is not among the senatorial bets.
“Siya po ay ang Pangulo natin, pero hindi po siya kandidato. So meron po siyang idea o opinyon (He is our President, but he’s not a candidate. So, he has an idea or an opinion),” said the former broadcast journalist.
Tulfo added: “We will stay away from the negative campaign. Ang gagawin lang po namin, siguro, at lahat naman ho kami sumang-ayon dito (What we’ll probably do, and all of us have agreed to this). We will discuss it on our performance. Hindi po natin babanatan ang kabila kundi ilalatag lang ho namin ang mga nagawa (We’ll not criticize the other group, but we’ll just lay down what we we’ve done).”
Abalos said: “It’s not negative campaigning na sabihin lang (to say what he said) ‘yun sa (about) China, ‘yun sa (about) Tokhang,” while Pacquiao, for his part said in Filipino: “ We don’t have to bicker with our rivals or other candidates.”
Lacson, a former PNP chief, had a different take, saying the “passion” of the President in his speech could be coming from reports of “serious security threats not only to his administration but to his life.”
The returning lawmaker, who is known for his deep connection in the intelligence community, admitted that he was just speculating “because laymen like us, we’re not so privy to information received by the President.”
Vice President Duterte, in a press conference last November, said she had ordered a hitman to kill the President, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez if they get to kill her first.
The statement is on top of the specific impeachable acts cited by the House of Representatives in the Articles of Impeachment it transmitted to the Senate before it adjourned session last February 5.
MARCOS IN ILOILO
The President, during the Alyansa’s campaign launch in Iloilo City, again asked voters to carefully consider if they want to return to the period when the country was under the “night of terror,” or if they want a brighter, peaceful and good future when they cast their votes during the midterm elections in May.
“Dalawa po ang pagpipilian na ngayon natin. Mamimili ba tayo na babalik tayo sa panahon ng lagim o tayo ba ay tutungo patuloy sa ating kinabukasan na maliwanag, na mapayapa, at maganda para sa lahat ng Pilipino?
Hindi po namimili kung sino ang uunahin; hindi po namimili kung sino ang sikat, kung sino ang mayaman; basta’t Pilipino tinutulungan ang Pilipino. ‘Yan po ang paninindigan po ng Alyansa (We now have two choices. Will we choose to return to the time of darkness, or will we continue towards our bright, peaceful, and beautiful future for all Filipinos? We do not choose who to prioritize; we do not choose who is famous, who is rich; as long as Filipinos help Filipinos. That is the stance of the Alyansa),” Marcos said.
“Pagdating ng Mayo, isipin po ninyo na ang bawat boto ninyo ang magbibigay sa atin ng magandang kinabukasan. Ang kinabukasan na ating lahat, na layunin natin na mapaganda ang buhay ng bawat Pilipino, mapaganda ang ating minamahal na bansang Pilipinas (Come May, consider that your vote will provide us a good future. A future that would give Filipinos a good life and give the country a good future),” he also said.
Like the launch of the Luzon leg of the campaign, the President again highlighted the good points of the Alyansa candidates and what makes them better than the other personalities who are gunning for a senatorial seat.
He said the Alyansa senatorial candidates would immediately hit the ground running when elected as they already know the job, what they should prioritize and what they should do to accomplish their tasks and ensure that welfare of the people are prioritized unlike others who would allegedly still need to study like an on-the-job trainee.
Marcos said the track record ad experience of the Alyansa candidates – who are experienced lawmakers, local government officials, Cabinet members and lawyers – speak for itself as he emphasized anew that none of the administration bets had a hint of blood in their hands, been involved or accused of corruption, nor had they been known to applaud the harassment of the Philippine Coast Guard and the Filipino fishermen in the South China Sea or even sell out the Philippines to China.
WARM WELCOME
The Alyansa and the President were welcomed by Rep. Julienne Baronda, Team Sulong Gugma and former mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog and their supporters who attended the 4 p.m. rally the rally held near the Mandurriao district’s Gaisano City Center.
“We warmly welcome President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. and the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas slate to Iloilo City. Through various assistance programs and infrastructure projects, PBBM has ensured that the government’s GUGMA is felt and experienced by the Ilonggos. Today, we express our heartfelt gratitude for his contributions and future initiatives for the people of the heart of the Philippines. As the City of Love, we will make sure they feel our warmth and appreciation,” said Baronda.
PRO-CHINA CANDIDATES
At the House, Zambales Rep. Jefferson Khonghun said Filipinos must reject the Duterte dynasty and their pro-China allies who are candidates in the midterm polls to protect the nation’s future.
The lawmaker warned that allowing the Dutertes to regain full political control beyond 2025 would mean a return of “China’s growing influence in Philippine waters, state-sponsored killings, illegal POGO operations and large-scale corruption in government.”
“The former administration has already shown us what will happen if their family wields power. They allowed China to step on us in the West Philippine Sea, they allowed syndicates to flourish in illegal POGOs and other. Do they really want to return to that time?” Khonghun said in Filipino.
He stressed that “a return of the Duterte brand of governance would weaken Philippine sovereignty and expose the country once again to lawlessness and impunity.”
“We cannot forget how Duterte bowed to China and set aside our victory at The Hague. Under his watch, China built military bases in the West Philippine Sea, while Filipino fishermen were harassed and blocked from our own waters. Now, they want to return to power? The Filipino people should not allow it,” Khonghun said.
He warned against electing Duterte allies in the Senate, saying that a Senate dominated by Duterte allies would only push the country back to foreign appeasement and national betrayal.
