Sara endorses 12 Senate bets

MANILA, Philippines —  Reversing an earlier statement, Vice President Sara Duterte is now endorsing 12 candidates for the Senate.

Duterte said yesterday that she supports Sen. Imee Marcos and Las Piñas Rep. Camille Villar since they share a “common vision” with the 10 senatorial candidates backed by her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte.

“The #Duter10 senatorial candidates running under... PDP-Laban, together with reelectionist Sen. Imee Marcos and Rep. Camille Villar, are united by a common vision – a peaceful and prosperous Philippines,” the Vice President said. “This vision is solid enough to break through the walls of the existing political division in the country.”

She endorsed Marcos’ reelection bid last week after the senator left the administration-backed Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas on March 26.

Villar, meanwhile, is still part of Alyansa.

Marcos and Villar have reportedly spent over P1 billion each in advertisements for their campaigns in the May midterm elections.

Speculations that President Marcos’ elder sister was no longer part of Alyansa mounted last month following the arrest and turnover of the former president to the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity stemming from his bloody war on drugs.

The Dutertes have accused the Marcos administration of rolling political hurdles against PDP-Laban bets, including the former president’s arrest, as they appear to be “afraid of being swept” during the midterm polls.

The President has denied this, saying the government was just “doing its job,” as expected of a leader “of a democratic country that is part of the community of nations.”

Alliance of convenience

The common vision shared by the “Duter10” senatorial slate with Marcos and Villar is an alliance built on “convenience and opportunism,” Bayan president Renato Reyes Jr. said yesterday.

“There can be no peaceful and prosperous Philippines when there is no accountability for extrajudicial killings and corruption... when human rights violations are rampant and plunder of confidential funds is the norm,” Reyes pointed out.

Filipinos should reject the latest version of the “UniTeam for convenience and self-serving interests” and support candidates who represent the people’s interests, he said, referring to the 2022 tandem of the President and Vice President.Collateral damage

Meanwhile, with pre-election surveys placing her outside the so-called Magic 12, Senator Marcos said she felt like “collateral damage” due to her surname.

Without elaborating, Marcos said, “I feel like collateral damage because I’m a Marcos. But of course, right is right, wrong is wrong and anything against the law we simply cannot allow.”

Despite her poor survey standing, Marcos said she was OK since she does not pay attention to surveys.

Marcos expressed gratitude to the Vice President and noted that plans are underway for them to tour the Visayas and Mindanao, where the Duterte family maintains strong grassroots support. – Mark Ernest Villeza, Cecille Suerte Felipe