Vice President Leni Robredo, the opposition’s standard bearer, on Friday revealed her 11-strong Senate slate for the 2022 elections.
At a press briefing with her running-mate Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Robredo identified the 11 as:
- Senator Richard Gordon
- Senator Joel Villanueva
- Senator Miguel Zubiri
- Senator Risa Hontiveros
- Senator Leila de Lima
- former Vice President Jejomar Binay
- Former Representative Teddy Baguilat
- Sorsogon Governor Chiz Escudero
- Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV
- human rights lawyer Chel Diokno
- Alex Lacson of Kapatiran.
“They are the ones who heeded our call for unity,” Robredo said. “We are together in expanding our ranks based on principles.”
“Mga kinatawan sila ng mas malawakang puwersang handang tumindig para isulong ang bago, matino, at makataong pamamahala, mula sa tuktok ng pamahalaan hanggang sa bawat sulok ng burukrasya,” she added.
(They represent a broader alliance which will push for new, competent and compassionate governance from top to bottom and every corner of the bureaucracy.)
Robredo then added that the 12th slot will still be filled in due time.
“We want to get someone who will best represent the marginalized sector,” she pointed out.
Strange bedfellows
The 11-strong slate, however, featured strange bedfellows.
Trillanes led a two-year Senate probe into the alleged corruption of Binay and son Erwin when the elder Binay was still vice president.
Villanueva, Zubiri, Gordon, on the other hand, all voted to oust de Lima as chairperson of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights after it launched inquiry into drug war killings under the Duterte administration and even during President Rodrigo Duterte’s tenure as Davao City Mayor.
De Lima, as justice secretary during the Aquino administration, also filed graft complaints against Villanueva in connection with the alleged misuse of his pork barrel funds.
Robredo, however, maintained that they are all on the same page.
“We have one goal, and that is to galvanize change. Iba-ibang pinagdaanan, iba-ibang kasaysayan, pero yung mahalaga, noong nakiusap tayo na magkaisa, ‘yung kahandaan na isantabi ang mga pinagdaanan, nandoon,” Robredo said.
(We have different experiences, history. But what is important is that when I appealed for unity, the readiness to shelve differences was there.)
“Sa huli, lahat sila — lahat kami — sa inyo lang, sa taumbayang Pilipino, mananagot [Ultimately, everyone of us will be accountable to the Filipino people],” she added.
Trillanes, Binay react
Those who made the slate expressed honor over their inclusion.
“It is a huge honor to be in the Senate slate of our next President Leni Robredo. We respect the selection process and we are focused on making the Vice President win this,” Trillanes said.
“This is a clear sign na sa pamumuno nila, kabilang sa priority ang trabaho nating lagyan ng ngipin ang batas (This proves that under their leadership, the priority is to give teeth to our laws,” he added.
Binay, for his part, said that unity has never been so important because of the pandemic.
“Maraming paraan para umahon sa pandemya, muling ibangon ang ekonomiya ng bansa, at pagandahin ang buhay ng bawat Pilipino. Ngunit hindi natin ito magagawa kung tayo ay magkakahiwalay. Kailangan nating magsama-sama. Iba’t-iba man ang kulay, nagkakaisa naman tayo sa hangarin,” he said.
(There are many ways to tide us over this pandemic, bring our economy back on its feet and improve the quality of life of our people. But we cannot do this if we are not going to fight together. Regardless of political color, we share the same goals.) —KBK, GMA News
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