Marcoleta drops out of Senate race

MANILA, Philippines — Lagging in all pre-election surveys among pollsters, Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta dropped his senatorial bid under the UniTeam of former senator Bongbong Marcos and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.

“The fighter in me should also be brave enough to read the writings on the wall. Let’s call a spade a spade,” the 1Sagip party-list congressman said Wednesday night, acknowledging his “poor showing in running surveys by various pollsters” during the “grueling four-month campaign.”

“I will be indebted forever to several people who chipped in their resources, time and tons of hard work into my memorable campaign,” Marcoleta added, extending his gratitude to President Duterte for “encouraging him to run, for his trust and generous endorsements.”

“I thank the hundreds of parallel support groups and thousand of volunteers who believed in my advocacies and the measures that must be pursued for the common good. I just hope that they will all be so kind and accommodating enough to understand,” he remarked.

Marcoleta also thanked the UniTeam standard-bearers and the entire senatorial slate, along with the ruling PDP-Laban party and the People’s Reform Party who “adopted” him, for their trust and “for the enriching experience of speaking before multitudes.”

“The BBM-Sara tandem exemplifies the politics of unity and working together, despite the divergent political persuasions, for the sake of the motherland – an element that is conspicuously absent in other teams,” he said.

Vic Rodriguez, Marcos’ spokesperson and chief of staff, said in a press statement that they respect his decision to withdraw from the senatorial race.

“Although it is with sadness that we receive the news, we opt to follow that there must be a higher reason behind it,” Rodriguez said.

Duterte-Carpio lauded Marcoleta for continuing to be the “voice of the marginalized” and for having “a genuine concern for our fellow Filipinos and their upliftment out of poverty.”

“Even as he withdraws from the Senate race, he will continue to be the voice of the marginalized. It was an honor to campaign for him and I wish him the very best,” she said in a separate press statement.

Marcoleta failed to enter the top 12 most preferred senatorial candidates in recent pre-election surveys. In a Pulse Asia survey released on April 6, he ranked 24th to 30th.

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, who leads a faction of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan, although saddened, respects Marcoleta’s decision.

“His withdrawal is not only a major loss to the party but also to his millions of supporters who recognize his love of country and his deep understanding of the rights of every Filipino… He has always been truly hardworking to protect the rights of the oppressed and the vulnerable sector,” Cusi said in a statement yesterday. – Elizabeth Marcelo, Emmanuel Tupas, Janvic Mateo