GMA, Alvarez file COCs for House seats

MANILA, Philippines — Former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo may come back as speaker of the House of Representatives after she filed her certificate of candidacy (COC) as representative of the second district of her home province Pampanga.

She intends to take the place of her son Mikey, who sits as House deputy majority leader.

Before stepping down from the presidency, Arroyo ran and won a seat in Congress in the May 2010 elections. She served for three consecutive terms until 2019. In July 2018, House colleagues overwhelmingly installed Arroyo to the speakership post during tumultuous proceedings.

Pantaleon Alvarez, who was ousted as speaker in the same chaotic pre-SONA event, also filed his COC for his third term as congressman of Davao del Norte’s first district. He was elected Speaker in July 2016.

Meanwhile, House deputy speaker Bernadette Herrera will be seeking another term as representative of party-list Bagong Henerasyon, where she is now on her second term.

“We have done a lot, but there’s much more we can do for our kababayans, especially in this time of the pandemic,” she said, as she filed her COC over the weekend with the Commission on Elections.

For his part, Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte sneered at former congressman Rolando Andaya Jr. for urging Vice President Leni Robredo to run for governor in Camarines Sur instead of gunning for the presidency.

“It’s pretty obvious that the VP has seen through the desperate political agendas of Andaya, who has been egging her on to run for governor instead of the greater calling for her to run for president despite the clamor from opposition forces for her to be their standard bearer in next year’s balloting,” Villafuerte said of Andaya, his political rival.

Villafuerte added it was “pathetic for Andaya to try to worm his way into Robredo’s graces” by spearheading a local clamor for her to run for governor, despite all the nasty things he had previously said in the province against her and her allies.

Push for education

Meanwhile, Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) chairman Ramon del Rosario Jr. urged candidates to push for education reforms to address the country’s learning crisis.

“The list of to-dos is long but here is where we start, together. There is no one solution to the learning crisis but through Education Nation, we hope to heighten the conversations between voters and our future leaders to achieve our collective goal of every Filipino learning and thriving,” del Rosario said during the online re-launch of Education Nation.

The coalition also called for a sustainable and holistic approach to solve the country’s education issues. It also wants a president and government leaders to prioritize education should they get elected to office.

PBEd executive director Love Basillote said the coalition intends to work with other groups in the conduct of education fora and events to engage both voters and candidates. – Louella Desiderio