(UPDATES) ALLIES of former president Rodrigo Duterte, Sens. Ronald dela Rosa and Bong Go on Thursday filed their certificates of candidacy (CoCs) for reelection in the 2025 elections.
Dela Rosa and Go were also joined by actor Phillip Salvador, who filed his own CoC. Sen. Robinhood Padilla was also present.
Speaking to reporters, dela Rosa said he will continue the fight against illegal drugs.
“Given the chance, if I win again, rest assured I will continue my advocacy on public order and national defense and security … I will continue my fight against illegal drugs and criminality. For national defense and security, we will see to it that our national defense posture should be credible enough against foreign invaders,” dela Rosa said.
Meanwhile, Go said he authored 15 laws, co-authored 164 laws, and 69 principally authored laws, particularly on upgrading and establishing hospitals in his first term.
“One of my advocacies when I won was on health and we were shocked during the Covid-19 pandemic, so we should invest more in the health care system,” he said in Filipino.
Go also wanted to focus on food security, jobs, livelihoods, housing, sports, and education, particularly improving the Expanded Tertiary Education, Equivalency and Accreditation Program.
Before they ran for the Senate, both had roles in the Duterte administration.
Dela Rosa was the chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), when he oversaw his bloody war on drugs that killed thousands of drug suspects. He is among former executives from the police named under investigation by the International Criminal Court looking into the war on drugs.
Go was Duterte’s special assistant.
Dela Rosa is the chairman of the Senate Public Order and Dangerous Drugs Committee, while Go leads the Youth Committee, the Health and Demography Committee, and the Sports Committee.
In July, former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who is running for mayor of Caloocan, sued Go and Duterte for plunder, accusing the senator of “enriching himself” by using his position to secure government projects in favor of his father and brother. He has denied the accusation.
Salvador, a former movie actor known for his movies “Jaguar” and “Orapronobis,” is also joining the race. He previously ran for vice governor of Bulacan in 2016, but lost.
In 2006, he was convicted by a Las Piñas regional trial court for estafa, after he and his brother were accused of duping a former live-in partner of $100,000.
Duterte’s Partido Demokratiko Pilipino endorsed dela Rosa, Go and Salvador as their candidates during their general assembly on September 20.
Former vice presidential candidate Dr. Willie Ong on Thursday also filed his CoC.
However, it was not Ong himself who showed up at the Manila Hotel for the filing, but his wife Dr. Lisa Ong. She was accompanied by Agri party-list Rep. Wilbert Lee, who filed his CoC on Tuesday.
Ong and Lee are both on the senatorial slate of the Aksyon Demokratiko party of former Manila mayor Francisco Domagoso, who is seeking to win back the mayor’s post after losing miserably in a run for the presidency.
According to his lawyer, Ong is in Singapore for treatment for sarcoma cancer and he will return to the country next month. Lisa thanked those who prayed for her husband.
“Insofar as [Ong’s] health is concerned, he will be able to return to the Philippines by the end of November and he will be able to physically campaign by December,” Gilbert Laudengco, Ong’s lawyer and spokesman, said.
Laudengco added that Ong’s core constituency is his online followers and he will do as much as he did through the use of social media and some social media campaigning.
Ong, who has 17 million followers on Facebook, previously attempted to run for the Senate in 2019 and served as Domagoso’s running mate as vice president in the 2022 elections.
On Wednesday night, opposition party-list Akbayan announced they are filing their CoCs of nomination and acceptance on Monday, October 7.
In a Facebook post, the party-list said their supporters will gather at 8 a.m. at the Ninoy Aquino Monument, which is across the filing location at the Manila Hotel.
They also announced the full list of nominees, led by human rights lawyer Chel Diokno, who is their first nominee, along with second nominee Rep. Percival Cendaña, and third nominee Dadah Ismula, and their other nominees, namely youth leader Justine Balane, labor leader Hercy Abucayon, transgender activist Magdalena Robinson, lawyer JC Tejano, human rights lawyer Ernesto Neri, farmers’ union leader Yoyong Merida and former representative Angelina Katoh.
Good to go (From left) Sen. Robinhood Padilla, Sen. Bong Go, Sen. Ronald dela Rosa and actor Phillip Salvador file their certificates of candidacy on Oct. 3, 2024. photo by MIKE ALQUINTO
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