MANILA, Philippines — The faction of administration party PDP-Laban led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi will field actor Robin Padilla as one of its senatorial bets for 2022.
Padilla's brother, Rommel, will also launch a bid to represent the 1st District of Nueva Ecija in the House of Representatives under the PDP-Laban faction.
They both took their oath as members of the party before Cusi on Tuesday, according to a statement released by PDP-Laban secretary-general Melvin Matibag.
While 2022 will see Padilla's first bid for public office, he is an avid supporter of President Rodrigo Duterte and campaigned for him ahead of the 2016 elections.
Very much in line with the president's politics, Padilla supports the reinstatement of the death penalty, the administration's violent campaign against illegal drugs, and believes the late and ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos is a hero.
He also campaigned for Duterte's longtime aide, Christopher "Bong" Go, when he launched a successful bid for the Senate in 2016.
Padilla was not among the eight names that PDP-Laban announced as official candidates in the party's convention in September.
Padilla's brother made a successful run for Nueva Ecija board member in 2007.
Still no presidential bet
The Cusi-led faction of PDP-Laban has yet to announce its presidential candidate for 2022.
Go, who rejected the party's nomination to run as its standard-bearer, is running as its vice-presidential candidate.
Duterte withdrew his own bid for the country's second-highest post, claiming that he will retire when his term ends instead. He also claimed in 2015 that he would retire from politics but went on to enter the 2016 presidential race as a last-minute substitution.