Makabayan bet Colmenares aims for Senate seat anew

MANILA, Philippines (Updated 11:30 a.m.) — Former Rep. Neri Colmenares (Bayan Muna party-list) on Thursday has renewed his bid to become a member of the Senate.

He was accompanied by former and current Makabayan lawmakers and hundreds of supporters when he filed his certificate of candidacy at the Commissions on Elections head office.

Former Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares is the Makabayan coalition’s lone senatorial bet. This is his second time to run for senator. #Elections2019 @PhilstarNews pic.twitter.com/m8AB9LEiek

— Patricia Lourdes Viray (@patriciaviray) October 11, 2018

Colmenares ran for a seat in the Senate in the 2016 elections as part of the lineup of then-presidential candidate Grace Poe but lost.  

He is Makabayan coalition’s lone senatorial bet.

Colmenares is advocating for higher wages of workers, removal of excise tax on fuel, and the abolishing value added tax on electricity, water and petroleum. 

Colmenares, one of the critics of President Rodrigo Duterte’s “anti-people” policies, is also pushing for a law banning contractualization. 

“Panahon na para magkaroon ng boses at mata ang mga karaniwang tao sa Senado at mananalo ang karaniwang tao sa Senado,” he said. 

Last May, Duterte signed an executive order which puts an end to illegal contractualization. But labor groups and some lawmakers consider the EO “useless” since the acts banned under the order are already prohibited under existing labor laws. 

The latest Pulse Asia survey showed that Colmenares received a voting preference of 7.1 percent and ranked in the 27th to 34th bracket.

— with reports from Patricia Lourdes Viray