Wide variety of aspirants file CoCs

THE first day of filing of certificates of candidacy (CoCs) for the 2025 midterm elections saw a sitting senator, several congressmen, a former president and an electrician-carpenter launch their bids for elected office.

At the Manila Hotel, Agri-Agra na Reporma para sa Magsasaka ng Pilipinas Movement (Agri) party-list Rep. Wilbert Lee was the first to file his CoC before the Comelec, running for senator.

Lee's party-list at the House of Representatives focuses on the agricultural sector and, according to their website, pushed for the passage of the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Law and, in the Lower House, co-authored around 225 bills, passed 16 laws and principally authored around 210 bills and resolutions.

"We believe that what we started in Congress will continue in the Senate," Lee said after he filed his candidacy.

Lee also focused on the health care sector, emphasizing Filipinos' right to free medicine and treatment.

Sen. Francis Tolentino on Tuesday filed his candidacy for a second term. Tolentino was seen with his brother and Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino and Cavite Gov. Juanito Victor Remulla when he filed his candidacy.

He told reporters that should he win reelection, he would focus on harnessing the gains of the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. relative to economic recovery, as well as foreign relations and defense matters.

"It's more of continuing what I've been doing right now, as well as helping the current administration achieve its aims, especially uplifting the lives of the soon-to-emerge 14 percent new middle class, in addition to the middle class we have now," he said.

The senator said the judgment of a senator is independent of his political leanings, based on his experience in his first term, and clarified that the endorsement of Marcos would not affect the independence of the Senate.

He also said there was no bad blood between him and Marcos' predecessor, former president Rodrigo Duterte.

"I still hold President Duterte in the highest esteem. There's no bad blood, so to speak. I still respect him... what I did was not just a mere political decision. It has to be aligned with my personal principles," Tolentino said.

"I allied myself with the administration because its goals would [do] very well for the Filipino people... we're now talking about increasing our middle-class sector to match the 36 percent middle class in Thailand or the 40 percent in Malaysia, and I think the Marcos administration has plans for that. I am for a more dynamic economy and more stable political conditions, which I believe help Filipino people achieve their aspirations," he added.

Tolentino is running under the administration's Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas.

The first day for the filing of CoCs in Metro Manila was peaceful, albeit noisy.

The first to file at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Regional Office in San Juan was Joey Uy, who will run as Manila 6th District representative under Aksyon Demokratiko and will vie against incumbent 6th District Rep. Bienvenido Abante, followed by reelectionist Rep. Mary Mitzi Cajayon-Uy of the second district of Caloocan.

Other notable bets who filed their CoCs were Toby Tiangco for Navotas representative, Apple Nieto for Manila 3rd District representative, and Bicol Saro Partylist Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan, who will vie for Parañaque's second district.

Meanwhile, former president and Pampanga 2nd District Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo reiterated that she would run as congressman contrary to claims that she may run for senator.

"I have officially declared my candidacy for a second term as congresswoman of the second district of Pampanga, where I am committed to addressing the needs and priorities of my constituency and the province of Pampanga," Arroyo said.

The progressive partylist group Bayan Muna has also filed its CoC at the main filing venue at The Manila Hotel.

Bayan Muna's nominees are former representatives Neri Colmenares, Karlos Isagani Zarate and Ferdinand Gaite.

Two candidates who ran for president in the 2022 elections also filed their senatorial candidacies.

Alexander Encarnacion, a carpenter, filed his CoC, his second attempt at the Senate. He also ran for president in 2022 but was declared a nuisance candidate on both attempts.

"I am an electrician-carpenter... my roles are huge for the country," he said in Filipino.

Encarnacion claimed he developed a "solution" that would end crime and corruption in the country, called the "Laser-Co Super Fortress Law."

"What we invented that was registered in the National Library, the Laser-Co Super Fortress Law, can easily end crime and corruption in real-time," he said, without offering details.

Lawyer-doctor Jose Montemayor Jr., a candidate in the 2022 presidential elections, filed his CoC for senator, focusing primarily on health care.

"This only means a continuing service for our countrymen because it doesn't matter what position; as long as you love the citizens, you serve the same purpose," he told reporters.

Montemayor said he had a huge advantage because he was already known from the last election. He said his chances are better now than before.

Running for president under the Democratic Party of the Philippines in 2022, he had 60,592 votes. This year, he is running under the Partido Federal ng Maharlika political party.

Former schoolteacher Janice Padilla, pursuing a Senate run, is focused on the education sector.

"There are a lot of laws that are causing poverty among our people. Many teachers are struggling because their salaries are small," she said.

Former Sangguniang Kabataan chairman Felipe Montealto, also seeking a Senate seat, said he is running under the platform of providing quality education at all levels, modernizing the country's health care and upholding the rule of law.

"As a country, we have been longing for reform for a very long time, and I'm offering myself to the Filipino, as a young and fresh blood, to serve the country in the legislature," he said.

Meanwhile, Col. Ariel Querubin said he is going again for a Senate run in 2024 after placing 19th in 2010.

His son Alfred visited the CoC filing center to prepare his candidacy "in the coming days."

Querubin previously ran for the Nacionalista Party in 2010.