For senator

I profile here some of the leading candidates for senator.

1. BenHur Abalos, 62, lawyer, is Mr. Law and Order and Mr. Rule of Law as secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

BenHur executed two of the most amazing arrests of high-profile fugitives ever by a sitting government, lending gravitas to his executive and enforcement capabilities.

The first is Alice Guo, a billionaire suspected to be behind a POGO-centered criminal syndicate and a master spy embedded into the innards of the local government by China.

The second is pastor Apolo Quiboloy, head of a cult with a claimed following of seven million and who is wanted by the US Federal government for alleged crimes related to sex abuse, human trafficking, illegal drugs and money laundering.

After the stunning arrests of Guo and Quiboloy, BenHur declared: “No man is above the law!”

Before joining the BBM government, BenHur was chair of the Metro Manila Development Authority under President Duterte, 2021 to 2022. He was a five-term mayor (2007-2016) of Mandaluyong, which he built into what he called a Tiger City geared for businesses of the 21st century and in the age of the internet of things.

2. A lawyer, Abby Binay, 48, built a caring and sharing business city. Makati today, thanks to the Ayala name and the Binay stewardship, remains the best place to do business and to live in if you have money and the gravitas that the hoi polloi do not have.

After serving as Makati congressman from 2007 to 2016, she became mayor and proceeded to transform the business district into a smart city, one almost fully digital and with free WiFi to boot.

With digital technology, Abby downloads cash and other benefits to the city’s less privileged and even the rich and famous (talk about inclusion).

Gracious, always with a ready smile, fashionable and humble (and should we say, beautiful) , Abby may turn out to be the best Binay after all.

3. Manuel “Lito” Lapid, 68, actor, counts himself as the senator with the fourth number of bills and resolutions filed in the Senate, in the 14th Congress alone.

A person with little formal education can be presented with the opportunity of belonging to a group of select individuals mandated by the people to craft policies that would later on become laws and rules of conduct. For this reason, he never passed off the chance to deliver well in this world of the erudite.

The six years of his first term as a senator were marked with achievements that left the cynics perplexed and his critics baffled but proved his worth as a working legislator.

4. Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao, 45, is probably the most famous Filipino today, being one of the world’s greatest boxers and the greatest Filipino athlete of all time. His record: 35-6-2.

He should be the world’s boxing No. 1 greatest, and not the wily Floyd Mayweather. Experts rank PacMan only No. 2. The PacMan-Mayweather fight of 2015 generated $600 million and remains one of the best fights of all time.

Manny is the eight-division world champion with a fighting style that is courageous and marvelous – all-attack, high-speed, blows thrown at all angles, a strategy that vanquished boxing greats like Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Oscar de la Hoya, Miguel Cotto, men bigger, more powerful and more legendary, and taught fear in Mayweather.

If only Manny could put boxing’s discipline of hard work into his politics, he would be a cinch for higher offices.

5. Bong Revilla, 58, has mastered the art of image-making. Phantasy is good and rich politics.

The Revillas make almost real what they do in the movies – portraying a humble commoner destined to be great, flying high defeating enemies of the people and subduing the Devil Incarnate. Plus side romances to complete the characterization.

Bong Revilla, after all, is handsome, and dashing, and seems able to accomplish his mission (in the movies) with flair and fanfare.

Accused of corruption when his second term was about to end, he was elected back to the Senate in 2019.

6. Francis “Tol” (meaning bro) Tolentino, 64, lawyer, has come a long way, from the idyllic countryside of balmy Tagaytay 70 kms south of Manila to the hallowed halls of Malacañang (as a member of the Cabinet) and Congress (as a neophyte senator since 2019).

Now, he is the Upper Chamber’s foreign affairs expert in residence. He seized on the emotional aura of Manila’s claim to the West Philippine Sea and China’s depredations in the world’s most strategic body of water today to project statesmanship so early in his Senate career.

Tol has been in public service since 1986, holding positions in the legislative and executive branches of the government.

He served as mayor of Tagaytay City from 1986 to 1987 and again from 1995 to 2004.

To be continued

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