MANILA, Philippines — Entrepreneur and beauty pageant veteran Wilbert Tolentino is yet another content creator giving the political scene a go.
Wilbert is the first nominee of Ahon Mahirap party-list, which officially filed its certificate of candidacy earlier today at the Commission on Elections' venue in Manila Hotel.
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Also on the party-list ballot are outgoing Pateros mayor Miguel "Ike" Ponce III — who has held the post since 2016 — as second nominee and filmmaker Noel Escondo as the eighth nominee.
Escondo said the mission of the party-list is to uplift the lives of Filipinos and centers around the following initiatives: financial literacy in elementary schools, social justice and access to all government services, and economic empowerment for micro, small and medium enterprises.
Ahon Mahirap will also be focusing on removing the age limit for job applications, stressing on no age or gender restrictions, he added.
Escondo acknowledged to Philstar.com that there are other party-lists fighting for the same causes, but what sets them apart is that they have already been helping the poor for years without a House seat.
Ahon Mahirap Partylist files their certificate of candidacy before the Comelec. One of their nominees is content creator Wilbert Tolentino, who has 2.3 million folllowers on Youtube. If elected, he says he will vlog about their group's projects. #Halalan2025@PhilstarNews pic.twitter.com/tz1RScXDx0
— Jean Mangaluz (@JPMangaluz) October 3, 2024
Ponce, a lawyer by profession, shared that he had no intention of running for Congress and considers Tolentino a good friend. He underscored Tolentino's charity efforts for Pateros during the pandemic.
"Nu'ng itayo ang Ahon Mahirap, naniwala agad ako sa kanilang adbokasiya na ang tanging layunin ay sa mga mahihirap," Ponce told Philstar.com.
Asked by Philstar.com what would a content creator offer to the House of Representatives, Tolentino assured that Ahon Mahirap has transparency.
"Bilang social media influencer, gagamitin ko ang platform ko para i-vlog ang lahat ng mga proyekto para alam [ng lahat] saan narating ang efforts ng Ahon Mahirap," he added.
Tolentino is a former beauty pageant contestant, producer, and manager, having previously handled host-comedienne and beauty queen Herlene Budol.
He terminated his management contract with Budol in July 2023, citing health reasons and spending more time with his family. Tolentino assured he and Budol are still on good terms, as seen on his Instagram posts with his former ward.
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