THE ruling Liberal Party on Monday finally bared its full ticket at its headquarters in Cubao, Quezon City, before its candidates finally file their certificates of candidacy for next year’s elections.
President Benigno Aquino III and administration bets Manuel Roxas II and Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo led the senatorial line-up that is a mix of former Aquino Cabinet officials, sectoral representatives and reelectionist senators.
In the party’s 12-man senatorial slate were Senate President Franklin Drilon, Senators Ralph Recto and Teofisto Guingona III, former Presidential Adviser on Food Security and Agricultural Modernization Francis Pangilinan, and Former Presidential Assistant on Rehabilitation and Recovery Panfilo Lacson.
Completing the list were former Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla, outgoing Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, outgoing Technical Education and Skills Development Authority Director-General Secretary Joel Villanueva, former Akbayan Rep. and outgoing PhilHealth Director Risa Hontiveros, former Pampanga Gov. and Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority Chief Mark Lapid, and newcomers COOP-NATTCO party-list Rep. Cresente Paez and DILG Assistant Secretary for Muslim Affairs and Special Concerns Nariman Ambolodto.
Drilon said Paez and Ambolodto were the candidates that are not too well known but he expected them to be familiar to the public in the next six months.
Marikina Rep. Romero Quimbo said the LP remained unfazed by the absence of its key allies during the 2010 presidential campaign—the National Unity Party, the Nacionalista Party and the Nationalist People’s Coalition—during Monday’s presentation of its senatorial lineup.
House Speaker Sonny Belmonte will be the general campaign manager of the LP-led coalition, with Quimbo and Akbayan Rep. Barry Gutierrez serving as spokesmen of the “Team Daang Matuwid.”
Caloocan Rep. Edgardo Erice, meanwhile, will remain the party’s spokesman.
In his speech, Roxas highlighted the achievements of the LP-led coalition in the legislature, including the passage of the General Appropriations Act and some landmark bills including the GOCC Reform Act, the Sin Tax Reform Law, the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act, and the Philippine Competition Act.
“We need a good interaction between the legislature and the executive, an interaction that isn’t grounded on political convenience,” Roxas said.
Aquino slammed the critics of his favored bills including his proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law.
“Just think: If we do not pass the BBL, that means continuing the cycle of division; it means our countrymen will remain mired in violence and poverty; it means lending proof to the shortcomings of the ARMM, where even just one corrupt person elected into office can affect the future of all,” Aquino said.
He said the LP’s 12 senatorial candidates were chosen out of their steadfast belief in the straight path rather than their popularity in the preferential polls.
“Our primary criterion in deciding who to include in the slate was their readiness to continue our journey along the Straight Path,” Aquino said.
He slammed the enemies of the straight path.
“Now, how will we know who our true partners are? Let us look at the characteristics of the enemies of the Straight Path. First, there are the empty promises where they say that they will give us everything while always forgetting to mention how they will fulfill those promises.”
“Second, there are those who lie to our faces. I just shake my head whenever I hear the statements they make—as if they were not among those who oppressed us before.
“The third: it is clear that they themselves admit that their track record is dismal, which is why they attempt to portray all others as having as dismal or downright bad a record as they have.”