‘UniTeam’ of BBM, Sara, readying own Senate lineup
Isko aiming for PDU30 endorsement; says he wants Digong in his lineup
The ‘UniTeam’ of former senator, Ferdinand ‘Bongbong/BBM’ Marcos Jr., and Davao City mayor, Sara Duterte, is now in the thick of finalizing their senatorial ticket that would come from at least 4 political parties that have coalesced to support their candidacy for next year’s presidential elections.
In the event, only UniTeam would be able to field a credible and complete senatorial ticket, compared to other parties and candidates who have not even bothered to create their own slate for lack of candidates seeking to fill the 12 slots in the Senate up for grabs next year.
The UniTeam is a coalition of four political parties – the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas now headed by Marcos; Lakas-CMD and Hugpong ng Pagbabago both headed by Duterte and, the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) headed by former senator Jinggoy Estrada.
According to a reliable source from UniTeam who declined to be named for the moment for lack of authority to speak on the issue, several names are already under consideration to initially fill-up the coalition’s slate, namely:
Estrada; former public works secretary, Mark Villar; former presidential spokesperson, Atty. Harry Roque; Atty. Larry Gadon; House Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta; broadcast journalist Raffy Tulfo; House Deputy Speaker and former senator, Loren Legarda; Sorsogon governor and former senator, Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero; former senator JV Ejercito.
Lakas-CMD, which has to field its own candidates for the Senate, is also expected to submit several names for consideration.
Isko now wooing Pres. Duterte
Significantly, the source did not mention the name of Pres. Duterte, titular head of a faction of the ruling PDP-Laban, who has decided to run from the Senate.
Despite this, Manila mayor Francisco ‘Isko Moreno’ Domagoso has ramped up his effort to solicit the support of Pres. Duterte, after Sen. Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go, announced last November 30, 2021, that he is withdrawing from the presidential contest.
Go’s withdrawal had left Pres. Duterte with no presidential candidate to support next year.
From previously attacking Pres. Duterte over the government’s policies related to the COVID-19 pandemic and Pres. Duterte’s cursing of the Pope, Moreno is now very loud in praising the accomplishments of the administration in the last 5 years and even publicly announced that he wants Pres. Duterte to be a senatorial candidate under his ticket.
Moreno also preempted Pres. Duterte by already ‘thanking’ the Chief Executive should he be endorsed for the presidency, aware that Pres. Duterte’s endorsement would be crucial in boosting his chances at the polls next year.
Despite being labeled as already a ‘lame duck’ president, Pres. Duterte continues to earn the trust and support of more than 60 percent of Filipinos, based on the result of poll surveys and it is this support that Moreno aims to get in order to boost his already lagging candidacy.
The latest pre-poll surveys now placed Moreno a far third in voters’ preference, behind Marcos and Vice Pres. Leni Robredo, should the elections be held today.
