The senatoriables may be classified into three distinct groups based on the official list of candidates certified by the Commission on Elections. The first group will be the reelectionists, namely: Senators Richard Gordon, Risa Hontiveros, Leila de Lima, Win Gatchalian, Joel Villanueva and Migz Zubiri. They are all able and competent legislators who have made significant contributions in lawmaking. As chairmen of their respective committees in the Senate, they have distinguished themselves by sponsoring major bills benefitting their constituencies.
Some of them had caught the public imagination, like Gordon, Hontiveros and Gatchalian, by denouncing and investigating alleged anomalies in the government like the Pharmally deal, the pastillas scam in the Bureau of Immigration and the Malampaya deal. The members of the second group, made up of comebacking senators, are no less formidable than the reelectionist solons. They are former Senators Loren Legarda, Alan Peter Cayetano, Francis Escudero, Antonio Trillanes, Gringo Honasan and half brothers Jinggoy Estrada and JV Ejercito. They are tried and tested legislators whose wealth of experience in public service span several years. Most of them had served in the Executive department and represented their districts in the House of Representatives. Legarda and Cayetano were even candidates for vice president in previous elections, while Honasan and Trillanes were popular coup leaders with huge following in the military. The last group due to the fact they have not been elected to the Senate in the past may be termed as “newcomers.” Many of them, however, are not political neophytes. It is led by former Vice President Jojo Binay who was once a front-running presidential bet in the last presidential election. A number of them were members of the Cabinet, like DPWH Secretary Mark Villar, Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, Defense Secretary Gibo Teodoro, Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones and Presidential Legal Counsel and Spokesperson Sal Panelo. It seems that the only incumbent member of the HoR gunning for the Senate is Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta. If his fellow congressmen will rally behind him, Marcoleta can fortify his bid for the Upper House. Some former members of the House of Representatives like Teddy Baguilat, Gibo Teodoro, Neri Colmenares and Monsour del Rosario are seeking their promotion to the Senate. Other prominent newcomers are former PNP Chief, General Guillermo Eleazar, popular media personalities Raffy Tulfo and Carl Balita, actor Robin Padilla, former Mayor Herbert Bautista, former Senate Secretary Lutz Barbo, law dean Chel Diokno, health advocate and reformer Minguita Padilla, labor leader Sonny Matula, Atty. Alex Lacson and business leader Jess Arranza.
Most of the winners, if not all, will come from the list of the frontrunners who scored high in the recent polls conducted by reputable pollsters. In the last survey conducted by Pulse Asia released last Sunday covering the period January 19 to 24, 2022 before the official campaign period began, the top 13 candidates were: Tulfo, Cayetano, Legarda, Escudero, Villar, Zubiri, Gatchalian, Binay, Jinggoy Estrada, Joel Villanueva, Hontiveros, Robin Padilla and JV Ejercito. In other surveys, the No. 1 position was claimed by Cayetano or Villar. This is not surprising since Cayetano once held the powerful position of Speaker of the House while Villar, aside from being backed up by tremendous resources and logistics, had a high profile role in the current administration as the public face of the massive “Build, Build, Build” program. Notably absent in the winning contenders among the reelectionists are Senators Gordon and de Lima. Maybe because he was consumed in his Senate work as the Chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, which is handling the Pharmally investigation, Gordon had not paid early attention to his reelection campaign until it officially started last week. It was a relief to Gordon’s concerned followers that he showed up in Bicol to join the proclamation rally of VP Leni Robredo and to see his first TV political ads aired last Tuesday. There’s still enough time for him to catch up and establish himself as a top contender. In the case of Senator de Lima, we hope that she will be allowed to do more electioneering to give life to her lackluster campaign. Among the comebacking senators, Honasan and Trillanes who have common military and putschist backgrounds are outside the magic 12. Probably the young voters are not familiar with the romantic adventurism that the two cashiered colonels had engaged in, which catapulted them to the Senate during their heyday. Those with easy name recall by occupying top posts in the government will have a fighting chance to join the winning column. They are Honasan, Trillanes, Gibo Teodoro, Guillermo Eleazar, Harry Roque, Mayor Bistek, Piñol and Panelo. Chel Diokno’s illustrious name and personal accomplishments as a human-rights lawyer should give him an edge over the other candidates. The top 12 who will emerge winners in this year’s election will join the 12 remaining senators elected in the 2019 senatorial election. It is led by Senator Cynthia Villar, that election’s topnotcher, followed by Sens. Grace Poe, Bong Go, Sonny Angara, Pia Cayetano, Bong Revilla, Bato de la Rosa, Imee Marcos, Francis Tolentino, Lito Lapid, Koko Pimentel and Nancy Binay. It will be interesting to see who will be chosen as next Senate president. He or she will definitely come from the ruling party. Traditionally, the Senate is composed of 24 independent republics and any one of them stands a chance of becoming the third highest official of the land. Admittedly, others are not interested in leadership positions and are happy to remain as members and head a committee that suits their qualifications. However, I’m certain that Senators Villar, the mother, Angara, Imee Marcos, Pia, Bong Go or Francis Tolentino as keepers of the Duterte flame, Grace Poe and Koko Pimentel will have prominent roles in the reorganization of the Senate. If BBM emerges the winner in the presidential contest, we can expect Senator Imee to be ahead of the line. From the potential winners in this year’s fresh crop of senators, Legarda, Cayetano, Escudero, Zubiri, Binay and Gordon will serve as a fulcrum of power. Anyone of them can maneuver himself or herself to the top and capture the helm of the Senate. We may have the most number of female senators at the 19th Congress of the Philippines. They can form a potent voting block and install the first female Senate president ever. The Senate may become a family affair with mother and son Villars, Cayetano and Estrada siblings and father and daughter Binays. The two votes of a family can be decisive in breaking any deadlock or impasse.
Come what may, I trust that the incoming Senate will remain steadfast in its role as the foremost legislative body of our country. Given the experience and qualifications of its new and existing members, I pray that they will keep the Senate as a revered democratic institution that champions our people’s civil and political rights. It’s only made up of 24 members but as the US President Andrew Jackson had once said: “One man with courage makes a majority.”