SEN. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa on Monday night said he is facing “chal-lenges” in his reelection bid unlike his 2019 campaign during the term of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
In a chance interview in Mandaluyong City, Dela Rosa said he now has to wait for invites from friends and allies before he can campaign in an area since the Partido ng Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) still has no sched-ule of a grand campaign sortie.
“Maghihintay ka kung merong mag-imbita sa iyo para makapunta ka kung mayroong silang dadalhing crowd, yung malaki-laki, tapos dadaan ka, saka ka pupunta. Otherwise, kung walang mag-imbita, wala talaga. Kasi so far wala pa kaming schedule na mga sortie, wala pa kaming mga schedule na malakihan (I will have to wait for an invitation so I can drop by if the organizers can bring a huge crowd. Otherwise, if there is no invi-tation, there will really be no campaign sortie. Because so far, we do not have a scheduled sortie, no schedule for a big campaign rally),” he said.
He said the campaign period has also been a big challenge for PDP candidates since the party lacks “resources.”
Aside from Dela Rosa, the PDP is also fielding Sen. Christopher Go, lawyer-singer Jimmy Bondoc, Jayvee Hinlo, Raul Lambino, party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta, pastor Apollo Quiboloy, lawyer Vic Rodriguez and actor Philip Salvador as its senatorial candidates.
“So, very challenging compared to before na midterm na yung sitting President ay nandiyan, all government agencies ay walang pumigil sa iyo. Pati mga LGUs walang pumipigil sa iyo because the sitting President yung boss mo. Right now, all the handicaps ay nandiyan sa amin (It’s very challenging compared to the midterm elections before because the sitting President was there, all government agencies won’t hold you back. Even the LGUs [local government units] do not hold you back be-cause the sitting President is my boss. Right now, all the handicaps are there for us),” he added.
“That’s the reality, dahil nasa kabilang bakod tayo (That’s the reality be-cause we are on the other side of the fence now),” he also said.
Dela Rosa said all he is doing right now is to continue to gain the trust and confidence of the people who voted for him during his first Senate run six years ago.
He said he does not have a problem about getting the people to know him more as he has been performing well on senatorial surveys.
“Yung conversion na lang sa boto. Letting them know what’s your stand on particular issues. So dapat ma-share mo sa kanila, ma-relay mo sa kanilang yung stand mo (What I am concerned is how to translate [the survey results] to actual votes. Letting them know what’s my stand on particular issues. So, I must share that with the people, relay my stand to them),” he said.
