Election survey leader files Senate candidacy

BETTER CHANCES Broadcaster Ben Tulfo registers his Senate bid separately with former legislators Leila de Lima, Teddy Baguilat and Erin Tañada of the Mamamayang Liberal party list. —LYNRILLON

Broadcaster Bienvenido “Ben” Tulfo, who has been topping recent senatorial surveys, filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for senator on Saturday.

If he wins in the 2025 election, he will be the third Tulfo to serve or have served n Congress. His brothers are both incumbent legislators—Sen. Raffy Tulfo and incumbent Rep. Erwin Tulfo.

The congressman, a former social welfare secretary, is also running for senator under President Marcos’ slate for the Senate.

Ben Tulfo said he and his brothers, being media men engaged in community service, will work together to address “recurring problems” plaguing Filipinos.

“Our job is to tell and seek the truth, but then again, we realized that after helping a lot of people for the last 22 years, they keep coming back [because of the] broken system,” he said.

“We decided to be part of the solution to the problem and that’s the reason why we’re here. There’s got to be change. Enough helping, they keep coming back, there’s a problem in the system and it should be addressed,” he added.

Among other independent senators who filed their COC were labor leader Jose “Sonny” Matula, president of the Federation of Free Workers.

Matula, who belongs to the Workers Party Philippines, vowed to continue his advocacy for a legislated wage increase, decent work and full respect for workers’ rights.

Former Senator Leila de Lima, Teddy Baguilat and Erin Tanada with their Certificate of Candidacy for Mamayang Liberal Partylist filed at the COMELEC, Manila Hotel. INQUIRER PHOTO/LYN RILLON.

Party list groups

Also filing his candicacy was Rolando Plaza, who claimed to be a “half-human, half-zombie” and was previously disqualified for running for the Senate in 2019 for being a nuisance candidate.

More than 20 party list groups also filed their certificates of nomination and certificates of acceptance of nomination on Saturday.

One of them is former Sen. Leila de Lima, who is a nominee of Mamamayang Liberal (ML), the multisectoral wing of the Liberal Party.

De Lima said if she wins, she will make up for the “lost time” in serving the public after she was incarcerated due to “trumped-up charges” eight months into her six-year term as senator. She was released on bail in November last year and cleared of her remaining criminal cases last June.

“I was jailed for 2,554 days. My name was besmirched. I was silenced, and my life was even placed in danger, but my conviction remains unshaken that the Filipino people deserve better,” she said.

Systemic injustices

De Lima said ML will fight for the marginalized sector, especially those “who became hungry or ill, or died due to neglect, greed, violence and dishonesty our leaders.” She said ML will fight against “systemic injustice.”

She was accompanied by her fellow nominees, former Reps. Teddy Baguilat and Erin Tañada, who also registered their candidacies.

Also filing her candidacy was Milka Romero, who is seeking to replace her father Mikee, incumbent 1-Pacman party list representative. Romero is the country’s richest legislator as of 2020. Her fellow nominee is former Rep. Bobby Pacquiao, younger brother of boxing champion and former Sen. Manny Pacquiao.

Lawyer and former University of the Philippines student regent Renee Co, first nominee of the Kabataan party list, led the group’s submission of nominations at Commission on Elections.

She said the group is pushing for an “alternative politics of hope” and opposed the youth being stereotyped as chronic complainers and TikTok fanatics. INQ