Bayan Muna Representative Teddy Casiño admitted that he came from a family unknown in the field of politics. With this, he shared that the Makabayan Coalition will have to effectively strategize its campaigns nationwide.
By ALEX D. LOPEZ
Davao Today
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — For progressive lawmaker Teddy Casiño, Bayan Muna Party-list representative, securing a seat at the Philippine Senate is a tough job and a big challenge.
So much so, that when the Pulse Asia released its recent survey which pegged reelectionists as having the strongest possibility of winning, Rep. Casiño shrugged it off, saying in an interview with Davao Today, “Normal lamang na ang mga pangalang lumabas na nanguna sa survey ay yaong sa mga personalidad na kilala na bilang mga senador sa loob ng isa o dalawang terms” (It’s only normal that those who are on the list are personalities already known as senators for a term or two).”
Casiño was at the bottom two of the August 31 to September 7 survey, while incumbent Senator Loren Legarda topped the list at 67.3 percent and Senator Francis Escudero at 61.2 percent.
“Maaga pa naman. Marami pang mangyayari at pwedeng gawin upang maka-usad ng husto ang magiging kampanya natin (It’s still early, though. A lot of things will happen and we could possibly do so that our campaign can fully take off),” he said.
Casiño admitted that he came from a family unknown in the field of politics. With this, he shared that the Makabayan Coalition will have to effectively strategize its campaigns nationwide.
The Makabayan Coalition has officially fielded Casiño for the senatorial race in the mid-term elections next year. It’s composed of the progressive party-list groups Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Gabriela Women’s Party, Kabataan, Courage, Migrante Sectoral Part, ACT Teachers’ Party, Katribu, Kalikasan Green Party, Suara Bangsa Moro, Piston and Akap-Bata.
All over the country, the Coalition targets 12.44 million votes for Casiño. The latter served as Bayan Muna’s representative since 2001.
Meanwhile, Casino’s reaction to the Pulse Asia survey was shared by Ariel Casilao, Makabayan’s coordinator in Southern Mindanao Region.
“Expected to siya nga result, mga reelectionist gyud o mga incumbent ang manguna sa mga surveys ilabina kung sila mga anak sa mga kanhing senador ug mga politicians (The result is expected. It’s either reelectionists or incumbents who usually top the survey especially if they are the children of former senators or politicians),” Casilao told davaotoday.com.
Casilao added that Casiño is the candidate of ordinary citizens and his sure ticket for a senate seat will be based not on surveys but on his unchallenged credibility, accomplishments as a lawmaker and the pro-people advocacies he promoted and advanced.
“Makabayan is on its way of strengthening its people-to-people based machinery wherein family members, friends, classmates, co-workers and different peoples’ organizations nationwide would join hands to carry the campaigns of Teddy for the Senate,” Casilao said.
The progressive Coalition’s decision on Casiño ended months of speculations whether the progressive solon would run under the ruling Liberal Party (LP) or the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA).
“Running as Makabayan’s solo bet will not compromise the pro-people platforms that we will bring during the campaigns,” Casiño added in the same interview.
But both Casiño and Casilao admitted that Makabayan, at present, is also closely evaluating the possibility of forming a “dream slate” or “peoples’ slate” for the Senate.
Casiño said that the slate would include individual senatorial candidates known for adopting the principles of Makabayan and advocates for pro-people programs.
Casilao said that given their stand on certain issues and commitment and willingness to work within Makabayan’s framework, the “dream slate” could include senators Legarda and Escudero, former senator Jamby Madrigal and incumbent representatives Cynthia Villar and Erin Tañada. (Alex D. Lopez/davaotoday.com)
World
