Kiko Pangilinan eyes Senate return in 2025
MANILA, Philippines – Former senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan submitted his certificate of candidacy (COC) on Tuesday, October 8, in a bid to return to the Senate after a failed vice presidential run in 2022.
Pangilinan is running under the Liberal Party (LP). He had planned to seek reelection back in 2022 before he decided to be former vice president Leni Robredo’s running mate. He placed second to Davao mayor Sara Duterte in the vice presidential race.
“Uphill battle ito but we will have to do our darndest best,” said Pangilinan on Tuesday at the Manila Hotel. “Ika nga eh, manlilimos ng boto. We will have to work hard to get, to make each vote count.”
(This is an uphill battle but we will have to do our darndest best. It’s like they say, begging for votes.)
His platform again revolves around agriculture and food security concerns. Pangilinan served as presidential assistant for food security and agricultural modernization during the administration of the late president Benigno Aquino III.
Pangilinan, accompanied by his celebrity wife actress Sharon Cuneta, met supporters and volunteers gathered at Quirino Grandstand after he filed his COC.
Supporters wore green and pink. Some of them were volunteers from the Leni-Kiko tandem in 2022.
Mamayang Liberal party-list nominees Leila de Lima and Erin Tañada graced the assembly to show support for the LP’s Senate bet. De Lima was also present at the send-off for Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino on Monday.
Pangilinan said he is only following his “original plan” in 2022.
“Ito ang original plan ko,” he told reporters and supporters at Quirino Grandstand. “At lalo na ngayon, ang pinaka-daing ng taumbayan eh ang taas ng presyo ng pagkain. Ang taas ng presyo ng bilihin.”
(This was my original plan. And especially because the biggest complaint of the people is the high price of food.)
Tight race
Pangilinan is the only senatorial bet of LP. Aquino, his ally, is running under the banner of the Katipunan ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP).
They are joined by human rights lawyer Chel Diokno and De Lima in a bid to establish a bigger opposition presence in Congress.
Diokno and De Lima are nominees of citizens’ party Akbayan and LP’s sectoral wing Mamamayang Liberal, respectively. De Lima graced the assembly of supporters for both Aquino and Pangilinan.
If Pangilinan and Aquino fail to win a seat, Senator Risa Hontiveros may end up as the lone opposition figure in the upper chamber. Early pre-election surveys of pollsters Pulse Asia and Social Weather Stations are projecting the administration slate to win at least 8 to 10 seats, with the Duterte camp possibly getting 2 seats.
According to Pangilinan, they are also “working on negotiations with other groups, particularly [party-list group] Magdalo.”
Magdalo is eyeing a return to the House of Representatives, and is led by former representative Gary Alejano.
Despite the looming contest in the 2025 midterm elections among the opposition, Marcos forces, and Duterte camp, Pangilinan said they are ready to work with the administration to alleviate hunger.
“Handa tayong isantabi ang pulitika upang tulungan ang gobyerno dahil walang kulay pulitika ang gutom,” he said.
(We are ready to set aside politics to help the government because there are no politics in hunger.)
Pangilinan was elected to the Senate in 2001, 2007, and again in 2016. Senators serve a 6-year term and can only be elected consecutively for two terms. – Rappler.com