By Liza Soriano

MANILA — Senatorial aspirant Kiko Pangilinan is calling on the Commission on Elections to assign Subair Guinthum Mustapha the No. 67 or the last number of senatorial candidate on the ballot to spare candidates from incurring additional expenses.

The Supreme Court earlier granted the Temporary Restraining Order filed by Mustapha, which requires Commission on Election (Comelec) to include his name on the official ballot.

“Bakit hindi na lang ilagay si Mustapha sa huling numero bilang huling kandidatong Senador sa balota para hindi na kailangan baguhin ang opisyal na numbering at mga numero ng ibang kandidato na inanunsyo na noong nakaraang taon pa?”  Pangilinan suggested.

The former senator noted that many candidates have their posters and campaign materials with the assigned numbers printed and distributed across various parts of the country.

“Sana bigyan ng konsiderasyon ang mungkahi na ito,” said Pangilinan.

He made his statement as he will be moved from No. 50 to 51 if the Comelec decides to insert Mustapha’s name alphabetically.

However, Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said that the the alphabetical arrangement of names in the ballots is “the most equitable and most objective order/sequence of candidates by which no particular person will be intentionally given premium and preference.”

ia/mnm

By Junex Doronio

MANILA — Anticipating an intense political battle in the upcoming 2025 mid-term elections since it will be a sort of referendum for the Marcos Jr administration’s policies and performance, the “reinvigorated” opposition is eyeing to field former Vice President Leni Robredo, former Senators Leila de Lima, Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan and Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV and human rights lawyer Juan Manuel “Chel” Diokno for the Senate race.

“This (2025 midterm elections) is important for President (Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.) and his allies since they’re going to find out if the voters are approving what they have been doing in the past 2 or more years,” University of Santo Tomas (UST) Political Science Department chair Dennis Coronacion said in a television interview on Saturday (24 February 2024).

He told ANC’s “Dateline Philippines” that having more members in the opposition at the House and Senate would help “ensure that there’s going to be a healthy democracy” by helping make sure that the administration “using its numbers, is not going to come up with half-baked laws” and policies that are against the public interest.

“It’s going to strengthen (if they win)… increase and strengthen the voice of the opposition in the Senate,” Coronacion said.

Learning from experience, the UST professor noted that in Robredo-led opposition slate ran on a platform of good governance, food security and human rights, but was trounced by the UniTeam’s promise of a united government.

“The messages that they tried to convey in the past elections did not resonate with the voters,” Coronacion noted.

He added that the Liberal Party (LP) will need to learn to win voters over “without sacrificing the party’s principles.”

Apart from LP, Akbayan, the Makabayan bloc and a coalition of labor groups and formations have fielded opposition slates in recent senatorial elections but failed to win, except Senator Risa Hontiveros of Akbayan in 2022 polls.

(el Amigo/MNM)