An incumbent senator and four former members of the Senate filed their certificates of candidacy on Tuesday at the Commission on Elections main office in Intramuros, Manila.
READ: Merry mix of early birds for senatorial polls
Accompanied by throngs of supporters, Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, and former senators Manuel Roxas II, Pia Cayetano, and Jinggoy Estrada all registered their intent to run for the Senate in 2019.
Lawyers for former Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile, 94, also filed his COC Tuesday, making him the oldest senatorial candidate so far.
Roxas had run for president in 2016 but lost to President Rodrigo Duterte. Before that, he was Interior and Local Government secretary during the Aquino administration. He served as senator for one term, from 2004 to 2010.
Cayetano served as senator from 2004 to 2016.
Aquino, who landed in the magic 12, tied for 10th to 12th spots with 22 percent in the latest SWS survey, sees a tougher race next year.
“The race is tougher this time because I am not a part of the administration,” said Aquino, who ran under the then ruling Liberal Party in his first term as senator.
“But that is public service. The fight is really difficult,” he said.
He finished seventh in the 2013 polls with over 15 million votes, even though he did not appear in pre-election surveys in October 2012.
Roxas has been in political hibernation since his election loss in 2016.
He said democracy was very much alive after supporters of another senatorial hopeful, Imee Marcos, greeted him with chants in support of Marcos.
“Buhay na buhay ang ating demokrasya,” Roxas said when he heard the chants of the supporters of Marcos.
In a Facebook video post, Roxas said he was joining the Senate race.
“If you think I can still be of help, I’m ready. I am offering myself again to you. And I am asking for your help because I can’t do it alone,” he said.
He said he reached his decision after going through a difficult examination of conscience and discernment.
Liberal Party president Senator Francis Pangilinan said Roxas’ entry strengthened the opposition party’s resolve.
“For a public servant like Mar, the basic values that bind us—a sense of duty, of not quitting on the country—these basic values will always prevail,” he added.
Cayetano is seeking a seat in the Senate again, after serving in the House of Representatives.
“My experience in the House has been valuable to me, but the Senate is the platform I am comfortable with,” said Cayetano, who biked from the Rizal Monument in Rizal Park to the Comelec headquarters in Intramuros to file her COC.
Estrada, who fares well in election surveys, will run under the Pwersa ng Masa party of his father, former President, and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada.
The senator, who is out on bail over a plunder case in connection with a pork barrel case, will also slug it out with half-brother reelectionist Senator JV Ejercito.
Ejercito, who bolted their father’s political party, joined the senatorial slate of the Nationalist People’s Coalition.
Jinggoy said even though JV has been criticizing him, he’s still his brother.
“We’re still related by blood, we have one father. If I had my way, I would want the two of us to win Senate seats,” said Jinggoy, who said he is not worried that the votes would be divided between two Estradas.
Another prominent senatorial aspirant, who also landed in the Magic 12 of senatorial preferences, is Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos.
The governor, accompanied by her brother, former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., was unapologetic for her father’s martial law record or the human rights violations that were committed at the time.
“Why would we admit guilt over something we did not do?” she said.
Meanwhile, GMA News Online reported that Enrile confirmed that his lawyers would file his COC.
He said he will be running as an independent candidate.
Enrile is currently out on bail for the plunder and graft charges over his alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam.
In a recent interview with Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Enrile drew fire for claiming there were no victims of human rights violations during the martial law years.
In Tacloban City, cousins Alfred and Martin Romualdez filed their COCs for positions they vacated when they reached the three-term limit.
Alfred is running for Tacloban City mayor to replace his wife, Cristina, who has said she will not run for office.
Martin will seek election to the House representing Leyte’s 1st District, a post currently held by his wife Yedda.
READ: Romualdez top nominee of ‘Tingog’ party
The Comelec said the number of senatorial bets that have filed their COCs has reached 100.
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said the poll body is expecting a high turnout of people wanting to become senators on the last day of filing on Wednesday because the two-day break gave many of them time to decide whether to run or not.
Reelectionists, former senators, congressmen, Cabinet members, and other high-ranking government officials dominate the list of senatorial candidates.
However, the Comelec said that the big number of candidates will be reduced to more than half once the poll body comes out with the final list of candidates in December this year, as many of them would be considered as nuisance candidates.
