Familiar names, peculiar aspirants in COC filing deadline

Metro Manila, Philippines — All certificates of candidacy (COC) and nomination and acceptance (CONA) are in and poll officials will now shift to trimming the list to those qualified to join the 2025 midterm elections.

At the senatorial and party-list levels, familiar and peculiar personalities showed up at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) offsite office at the Manila Hotel.

Former Senator Francis Pangilinan, who lost the vice presidential race in 2022, is seeking a comeback to address soaring prices of basic goods.

He said Malacanang and Congress should jointly address the issue.

“Handa tayong isantabi ang politika upang tulungan ang gobyerno dahil walang kulay politika ang gutom. Gutom ang taumbayan sa solusyon. Gutom ang taumbayan sa mga pangarap. Gutom ang taumbayan sa pag-asa. Kapag walang bahid, kapag totoo ang pamumuno at paglilingkod,” Pangilinan said.

[Translation: We are ready to set politics aside to help the government because hunger has no political colors. The public is hungry for solutions, dreams, and service.]

Pangilinan has not figured in the so-called Magic 12 in pre-election surveys but he said it does not reflect the results of the polls.

Former Marcos Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez also filed his candidacy for the Senate and said he will represent the “true opposition.”

Rodriguez was the spokesperson of then candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during the 2022 campaign. He resigned as executive secretary for personal reasons.

“Ang direksyon namin simula ng aking sinamahan nung kampanya muli ay patungo sa good governance at to temper the greed and the corruption. Nakita ko, kabaliktaran ‘yung aking na-witness,” Rodriguez said.

[Translation: Our direction when we began campaigning was towards good governance and to temper greed and corruption. I witnessed the opposite.]

Meanwhile, religious leader Apollo Quiboloy, who has been facing child abuse and qualified human trafficking cases, is also a Senate aspirant.

His legal counsel Mark Tolentino filed Quiboloy’s COC on his behalf as the religious leader has been detained at the Philippine National Police headquarters in Quezon City.

Tolentino said Quiboloy will push for religious freedom, helping the poor, and providing quality education.

TV host Willie Revillame, who said politics was not for him back in 2021, formalized his Senate bid. He said his agenda will revolve around alleviating poverty.

SAGIP party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta and former Audit Commissioner and whistleblower Heidi Mendoza also filed their candidacies for the Senate.

Peter “Bikoy” Advincula, who was behind the videos linking former President Rodrigo Duterte to a narco list in 2019, said he aims to centralize the correctional system.

In total, 184 senatorial aspirants filed their COC while 190 party-list groups filed their CONA. Voters will elect 12 senators and 63 party-list representatives.