MANILA, Philippines — Socialist labor leader Leody de Guzman, who is running for president in the 2022 elections under the banner of Partido Lakas ng Masa, bared Saturday his selected candidates for the Senate.
Leading the nine-man lineup are De Guzman’s partymates, labor leader Luke Espiritu, and environmentalists Roy Cabonegro and David D’angelo.
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De Guzman also chose six more senatorial candidates whom he said he “deeply trusts” even if they do not hail from his party. They are:
- Former Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares
- Sen. Leila De Lima
- Human rights lawyer Chel Diokno
- Sen. Risa Hontiveros
- Kilusang Mayo Uno chairperson Elmer Labog
- Federation of Free Workers president Sonny Matula
“Wala silang obligasyong dalhin ang aking kandidatura. Hindi ito transactional politics. Nagtitiwala ako sa kanilang hangarin para sa bayan,” De Guzman said of his picks of senator.
(They don’t have an obligation to support my candidacy. This is not transactional politics. I believe in their advocacies for the country.)
De Guzman, a former garments worker, has said that he is running for president to raise the profile of workers’ issues which he believes have been neglected by an “elitist” government.
But it will be an uphill battle for De Guzman as he does not have the money or the machinery that political heavyweights contending for the presidency have.
In 2019, De Guzman ran for senator under the Labor Win alliance, a five-man ticket focused on campaigning for labor rights such as ending contractualization and raising minimum wages.
He, however, lost and placed 38th in a race dominated by allies of President Rodrigo Duterte.