PDP-Laban senatorial list not yet final – Koko

MANILA, Philippines — The list of senatorial candidates provided by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez for the PDP-Laban is not yet final, Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said yesterday.

Pimentel stressed the list will have to be approved by the entire party, including President Duterte.

The partial list of senatorial candidates announced by Alvarez on Friday include presidential spokesman Harry Roque; presidential communications office Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson; Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez; Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles; Bataan Rep. Geraldine Roman and former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman Francis Tolentino.

Not included in the list was Pimentel, the party president, whose father Aquilino Pimentel Jr. was among the founders of PDP Laban.

“It is a good list. Once I join them in that list, it becomes a mix of old and new faces,” Pimentel said.

According to Pimentel, what is important is for the PDP-Laban slate to “bring party ideology into Senate priorities and enacted measures, especially federalism.”

Pimentel previously came out with his personal list of candidates for the 2019 senatorial elections, which includes himself, House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas, Benitez, Nograles, Roman and Tolentino.

He said he is also considering Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito, who has yet to join the ranks of PDP-Laban.

Pimentel stressed there is nothing final yet and the names provided by Alvarez would be considered as his nominees.

“But they have a very strong backer within the party, hence we can expect party members to, in due time, confirm their candidacies,” Pimentel said. 

“But we have to involve the entire party membership, including party chair President Duterte, in the decision making process,” he added.

Pimentel said the final slate would be announced probably in a month or two before the deadline for the filing of certificates of candidacy next year.

“In the meantime all lists are preliminary,” he said.