Twelve is the magic number for the 64 candidates seeking a berth in the Senate. The list of aspirants is star-studded and consists of six reelectionists (Win Gatchalian, Migz Zubiri, Joel Villanueva, Risa Hontiveros, Dick Gordon and Leila de Lima) and seven former senators (Loren Legarda, Alan Peter Cayetano, Chiz Escudero, Jinggoy Estrada, JV Ejercito, Gringo Honasan and Antonio Trillanes). If previous experience as a senator would be the sole gauge, we have more than enough to fill in the entire slate.
In addition, we have a former vice president, Jojo Binay, and a former presidential candidate, Gibo Teodoro, who have joined the fray. The other hopefuls have notable credentials as public servants and professionals who have excelled in their fields, to wit: Raffy Tulfo, Mark Villar, Robin Padilla, Herbert Bautista, Guillermo Eleazar, Harry Roque, Larry Gadon, Chel Diokno, Neri Colmenares and others. Undoubtedly, we have a rich harvest of candidates but unfortunately we have only a dozen slots to fill.
Based on the latest Pulse Asia senatorial survey, the top 12 hopefuls are: Tulfo, Legarda, Cayetano, Escudero, Villar, Gatchalian, Zubiri, Villanueva, Robin Padilla, Binay, Estrada and Ejercito. Tulfo and Robin Padilla stood out as not having held any elective position before. All the others, except Binay and Villar, are either incumbent or comebacking senators. The second set of 12 who ranked 13th to 24th places are as follows: Hontiveros, Bautista, Honasan, Gordon Trillanes, Eleazar, Teodoro, Roque, Gadon, Diokno, Colmenares and de Lima. Three of them are reelectionist senators and two are former senators. Eleazar was former Chief PNP, Teodoro and Roque are former cabinet members and congressmen, Colmenares is a former congressman, Bautista is a former 3-termer mayor and Gadon and Diokno are practicing lawyers. All of them have been in the public limelight and have distinguished themselves in their respective careers. Hontiveros and Gordon deserve to retain their Senate seats if only to reward them for their impressive performance as legislators and fiscalizers of the current administration. Hontiveros has proven that she has the competence and guts to pursue her legislative agenda despite being a female and an oppositionist. She comes to the session hall well prepared and armed with facts to do battle with the majority solons that obviously don’t intimidate her. Gordon enjoys a wealth of experience in public service as the youngest delegate to the 1971 Constitutional Convention, multi-term city mayor of Olongapo, congressman, senator, Chairman of Bases Conversion and Development Authority, Secretary of Tourism and Chairman of the Philippine Red Cross. There is no other senatorial aspirant who can claim the same breadth and length of experience in public service as Gordon. Teodoro is an underrated candidate despite his excellent credentials and solid qualifications. He’s a product of Xavier School, De La Salle and UP where he harvested academic medals. He topped the 1989 Bar Examinations and completed his Master of Laws in Harvard University. He was a member of the House of Representatives for three terms and served as the Secretary of National Defense at the age of 43 under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. In the 2010 presidential election, Teodoro was nominated to run for president under the ruling party’s banner, the Lakas-Kampi-CMD of President Arroyo. His huge promise remains unfulfilled and our people should be wiser to return Teodoro to public life. Another outstanding lawyer, Diokno, has failed to capture the public imagination despite his dedicated service to our people particularly the victims of oppression and injustice. He’s the son of former Senator Jose W. Diokno, an ardent nationalist and intellectual leader of the opposition against Ferdinand Marcos. His grandfather, Ramon Diokno, was a justice of the Supreme Court while his great grandfather, General Ananias Diokno, fought both the Spaniards and the Americans during our war for independence. Chel Diokno studied at De La Salle, UP and finished his law at Northern Illinois University, magna cum laude. Upon his return to the Philippines, he headed the Free Legal Assistance Group to provide legal assistance to the victims of martial law. He handled several celebrated legal cases involving police and military abuses. He was the founding dean of the De La Salle University College of Law, now renamed the De La Salle University Tañada-Diokno College of Law to honor two prominent human rights advocates. Another human rights crusader vying for a Senate seat is Colmenares. He earned his Economics degree at San Beda College and his law degree at UP. He was an active student leader and a militant youth organizer. He was arrested by the military for a couple of times and he was tortured while under captivity. After passing the bar, he became a human rights lawyer. He is the president of the National Union of People’s Lawyers whose members have been the target of numerous assassinations due to their commitment to defend the rights of the poor and the oppressed. Colmenares has consistently stood for the rights of the underprivileged and his election to the Senate will ensure that their voices are heard in our highest legislative body. Eleazar is a new face in politics although he has long been in public service as a bemedaled police officer. If he gets elected, he woud be the third Chief PNP after Panfilo Lacson and Bato de la Rosa to serve in the Senate in recent years. He promises to be the “siga” in the Senate and it may be worth to test his mettle in that august body. Both Honasan and Trillanes had colorful military career, which they had parlayed to endear themselves to the masses and win their Senate seats. Honasan had served four Senate terms and Trillanes, two terms. Our people can duly assess their performance during their long years of stay in the Senate and decide if they still deserve their trust. In the case of De Lima, our country was virtually deprived of her services as a Senator since she has spent almost five years of her term behind bars. She’s a very capable lawyer having placed No. 8 in the 1985 bar examinations. She served as the Chairman of the Human Rights Commission and as the Secretary of Justice. Right now, De Lima is not only languishing in jail but also in the ranking of senatoriables in this year’s election. Roque was a respected law professor of constitutional and public international law. He handled celebrated cases like the Maguindanao massacre victims and the family of Jennifer Laude, a transgender who was killed by a US marine. He was elected as a party-list congressman but cut his term short when President Duterte appointed him as the presidential spokesperson in 2017. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Michigan, his law degree at UP and his Master of Laws degree at the London School of Economics. Those who occupy the13th to 16th slot—Hontiveros, Bautista, Honasan and Gordon—have a statistical chance of entering the magic column. They have better opportunity to dislodge the candidates at the tail end of the top 12. There are still four weeks left before the election and anything can still happen. It will be tough to overtake the first eight in the survey although their standings may interchange. There will be changing of the guards at the Senate after this election. A Gordon-less or Honasan-less Senate may be hard to comprehend but now we have gotten used to a Senate without an Osmeña after generations that this illustrious family had served the Senate. Gordon’s and Honasan’s partisans should not allow this to happen. Their 2022 senatorial fight should not be their last hurrah!