THE 39-strong party-list coalition will deliver 15.5- million votes in bloc voting to bring to the Senate the “Champion 6” candidates that will champion the cause of the marginalized sectors.
“Champion 6” refers to senatorial candidates Valenzuela City Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian, Leyte Rep. Martin “Malasakit” Romualdez, former Tesda secretary and former Cibac Rep. Joel Villanueva, ACT-CIS Rep. Samuel Pagdilao, Coop Nattco Rep. Criscente Paez and the “lone rose” former Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros.
Romualdez, leader of the House Independent Minority Bloc, is the only opposition lawmaker carried by the 39 party-list groups that are all members of the majority coalition in the House.
In a news conference at the Grand Terrace in Quezon City, Cibac Rep. Sherwin Tugna, spokesman of the Party-List Coalition Foundation, said the chosen six champions would be the only names to be written in the ballots by their constituents nationwide.
Tugna conceded that such move deserves to be thought about carefully since throwing the support for the six that they already endorsed and at the same time allowing the party-list coalition members to select six others to complete the 12-strong Senate lineup based on their own preferences could negate their endorsement in the process.
“We want to prove we are a force to reckon with and we hope to bring the six champions to the Senate as they would be our voices in the Senate,” said A Teachers’ Rep. Juliet Cortuna.
Ako Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe said they prioritized their incumbent and former party-list colleagues.
While Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares was a member of the Makabayan Bloc, Batocabe said Colmenares, who is running under the slate of frontrunner Senator Grace Poe, was not a member of the coalition. Colmenares belongs to the House Minority Bloc. Colmenares is House Senior Deputy Minority Leader, next in line to House Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora.
Batocabe said the coalition had strict vetting process that required the 15.5-million members to vote for 12 nominated senatorial candidates, including those who were leading in the surveys but agreed that only the top six would be endorsed.
The results ranked Gatchalian as the top choice, Romualdez ranked second, and the four other senatorial candidates made it to the top six, Batocabe said.
Batocabe said the Bicolanos were particularly grateful for Romualdez because the lawmaker was the first to offer help when Ako Bicol was disqualified by the Commission on Elections.
Ako Bicol was eventually declared qualified as a party-list group and consistently won three seats in the House.
Although most popular and are leading the surveys, those who did not make it to the top six were World Boxing Champion Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao, reelectionist-Senator Vicente Sotto III, Senate President Franklin Drilon, among others.
The coalition’s position at first caused confusion when Cortuna announced the coalition’s 15.5-million members would also be allowed to vote for the next six senatorial candidates of their choice.
Pressed that the coalition’s position would somehow lessen the winning chances of the Champion 6, Tugna said the coalition may have to deliberate on that issue.
“We have decided to vote as a bloc. We may consider limiting our endorsement to these six candidates in our succeeding meeting to bolster our support. That matter will be subject to deliberation,” Tugna stressed.
Tugna and Batocabe said the coalition would pool their resources and machinery to vigorously campaign for the Champion 6.
The Champion 6 took turns in thanking the coalition and vowed to be its voice in the Senate.
The senatorial candidates also signed a manifesto of acceptance that also vow to push for the agenda for the poorest of the poor and the marginalized sector.
Gatchalian is running under Poe while Villanueva, Pagdilao, Hontiveros and Paez belong to the administration slate led by former Interior and Local Governments Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, standard bearer of the ruling Liberal Party.
Romualdez, a lawyer and president of Philippine Constitution Association or Philconsa, is a guest candidate of United Nationalist Alliance’s standard bearer, Vice President Jejomar Binay. He was also endorsed as a guest candidate of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, standard bearer of the PDP-Laban.
“In the case of former Rep. Hontiveros, she almost made it in the past.
We just have to mobilize our constituents. We know that our endorsement will not go to waste because these people will do their work in the Senate. The taxpayers’ money won’t be wasted on them,” Batocabe added.
Batocabe was referring to Hontiveros’ 2010 run for the senatorial race where she ended up in 13th place.
Hontiveros again ran in 2013, but she landed outside the top 15.
“We have chosen these six candidates because they are passionate for the causes of party-list groups, and we see them carrying that passion if they get elected to the Senate,” said Butil Rep. Agapito Guanlao, coalition president.
