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Juan Ponce Enrile Image Credit: File

HIGHLIGHTS

■ About 18,000 national and local posts are up for grabs in the May 2019 elections
■ 12 of the 24 Senate seats are open
■ All 297 House of Representatives
■ Deadline for the filing of candidacy is October 17


Manila: “I want to join the fun.” Thus explained former senator Juan Ponce Enrile to local reporters when they asked him why he is seeking a Senate seat in the May 2019 elections.

The 94-year-old former Senate president had reportedly filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) through a representative on Tuesday.

Enrile said he is wooing Filipino millennial voters, would run as an independent and would vigorously campaign through social media.

He is not the only nonagenarian politician in Asia: In May, Malaysia's Mahathir Mohamad was sworn in as prime minister. Mahathir turned 93 in on July 10. 

Enrile said he has a Facebook account. “I will not be beside any political group, any polity … I will just serve the country if I make it,” Enrile said.

“I will not be beholden to any vested group or anybody except the people,” said the veteran lawmaker.

Enrile, former defence minister of ex-president Ferdinand Marcos Sr who later turned against the dictator and joined, still believes he is capable of serving the country as a senator.

“Well, I think there’s no limitation on the age. Just a question of kung kaya mo ba ang magtrabaho dun (are you capable of working there)? Sa palagay ko naman (I feel) physically, although at my age I have problems with my blood pressure, weak hearing and weak vision, I think my brain is still up to it,” Enrile said.

Enrile said he still has a lot of things to offer to help solve the country’s most pressing problems.

“You know I have been studying for the last three years, not only our national condition, but also the global condition as it affects the country: problem of scarcity, problem of trade…the possible problem of the euro and currency problems, demography, geo-political situations, marami yan eh (there's plenty of it),” he said.

Enrile will also joins the late strongman's daughter, Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos in the 2019 senatorial race.

He was first elected senator in 1987 and was re-elected for a second term in 1995. In 2004, Enrile made a comeback bid for his third Senate term. He was then re-elected for a fourth term in 2010.

I will not be beside any political group, any polity … I will just serve the country if I make it.”

 - Juan Ponce Enrile, 94
Philippine Senate ex-president, who is running for a 5th Senate term


In 2013, Enrile faced plunder and graft charges in connection with the alleged Php10 billion "pork barrel" scam, in which state funds were misused and siphoned off through non-existent government projects.

If Enrile wins, it will be his fifth term in the chamber.

Enrile has also served at the helm of the Senate twice — first under the administration of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo from 2008 to 2010, and again under Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III from 2010 to 2013.

Roxas seeks Senate seat

Mar Roxas, a former legislator who lost to Rodrigo Duterte in the 2016 presidential elections, is seeking a Senate seat in next year's midterm elections.

Former senator and Department of Interior Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas, who lost to President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016, has filed his candidacy seeking a seat in the Philippine senate in 2019. File

"This decision has been difficult because I've already gone out of the political arena,"  said Roxas in a live-streamed speech after formalizing his candidacy.

The former trade secretary said he will help slow inflation that's quickened to a nine-year high and push for the repeal of automatic increases in oil tax approved by President Duterte last year.

Roxas' decision to return to politics will bolster a coalition of the opposition, according to a statement from Senator Francis Pangilinan, who is president of the Liberal Party of the Philippines, as candidates critical of Duterte trail in popularity surveys.  

 

Prominent Philippine politicians who already filed or are expected to file their candidacy by Wednesday. Clockwise from top left: Camille Villar and Cynthia Villar, Grace Poe, JV Ejercito, Gary Alejano, Mocha Uson. File

Filings

Other notable filings since October 11 include: 

Re-electionist senators who have yet to file their respective COCs are expected to beat the Comelec’s deadline.

■ Senators Cynthia Villar (NP) and JV Ejercito (NPC)
■ Former senator Jinggoy Estrada
■ Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV (LP)
■ Sen. Grace Poe (NPC)
■ Blogger Mocha Uson
■ Representative Gary Alejano 
 

 

2019 Elections

The 2019 election of members to the Senate of the Philippines will be the 33rd election of members to the Senate of the Philippines for a six-year term.

The seats of 12 senators elected in 2013 will be contested during this election, and the Senators elected in this election will serve up to June 30, 2025.

The winners in this election will join the winners of the 2016 election to form the 18th Congress of the Philippines.

The senators elected in 2016 will serve until June 30, 2022.

The Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), the ruling party headed by President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to lead its own administration coalition.

The opposition is expected to be led by the Liberal Party, headed by Vice President Leni Robredo, its de facto leader.

Other opposition coalitions may be set up.

The Senate election is held concurrently with elections to the House of Representatives and local officials above the barangay level.