Enrile, Imee Marcos lead names seeking Senate seat

October 16, 2018

Former Senators Juan Ponce Enrile,  Jinggoy Estrada, Mar Roxas II and Pia Cayetano are seeking to return to the Senate as they filed their certificates of candidacies (COC) on Tuesday. Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos, who is seeking a Senate seat, said a new generation of voters are  ready to hear their family's side of the story during her father's Martial Law regime. Marcos said she is not worried that anti-Marcos sentiments may affect her candidacy. “There have already been changes over the years. The new generation is ready to hear our side of the story,” said Marcos. “If I am worried that it may affect me, I would not have been here,” she added. She will be the second Marcos child to contend for a Senate seat. Her younger brother, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was a senator. Enrile, 94, sent his lawyer to file the COC on his behalf but he said in a TV interview he would let the people decide if he is fit to return to the Senate. Enrile said he will campaign using social media. He said there is no age limit in seeking the Senate. " I thought there is no limitation on the age.... I think physically ( I can) although at my age I have problems of... weak hearing and weak vision but I think my brain is still up to it," he said. Enrile's  lawyer, Joseph Sagandoy, filed Enrile’s COC around 3:04 pm. But the certificate showed Enrile’s profession was a “businesswoman”. Sagandoy  returned to correct it to “businessman”. In filing his COC, Estrada said he does not wish anything bad of his half-brother Senator JV Ejercito, who earlier filed his candidacy. “Despite everything Sen JV has been saying against me, he is still my brother. I would want us both to win,” said Estrada. Estrada is out on bail on a plunder charge arising from the pork barrel scam. Ejercito, who is trailing in the surveys compared to the former senator included "Estrada" in his surname in the COC Roxas, who lost in the 2016 presidential race, said it was difficult to return to politics but he is doing this to serve the people. “The government is a force for good. Government is a force for change. Government is a force for betterment. That is my philosophy, which I will stand for. That is also the reason why I am joining politics again, so that I can help in this endeavor,” said Roxas. Senator Bam Aquino filed his COC as he sought re-election. Former House Deputy Speaker Lorenzo  Tañada III and De La Salle University Law Dean Jose Manuel  Diokno filed their COC to run for senator under the Liberal Party. DMS