With 39 days left before the May 2025 midterm elections, former senator and senatorial candidate Kiko Pangilinan admitted that there’s still a long way to go for him and former senator Bam Aquino to get into the Senate’s winning circle.
Speaking to students of the Lyceum of the Philippines in Batangas on Thursday, April 3, he acknowledged how a lot of their 2022 supporters were traumatized by the results of the polls.
“Hinahanap namin ni Senador Bam yung mga tumaya, nanindigan, kumilos noon,” he said, adding that it is time once more to fight for the dream to have an honest government.
“Dapat sana maipanalo namin ni Bam ang aming kandidatura. Dahil kung titingnan natin ang sitwasyon ng bansa ngayon, yung aming pinaglaban na gobyernong tapat, angat buhay lahat three years ago eh pag nakikita natin ang balita, yung panga-abuso sa pwesto, yung toxicity, yung galit, parang bang lalong naging maigting yung pangangailangan ng gobyernong tapat,” Pangilinan added.
“Yung mga nasaktan, na-depress, nalungkot, naluha… Panahon na para isantabi at pawiin ang luha, manumbalik ang sigla. Panahon na para lumaban ulit, magmahal ulit.”
Both Pangilinan and Aquino remain outside the Senate’s Magic 12 in pre-election surveys by major survey firms, with the former lamenting how he was victimized by trolling and fake news when he entered the winning circle during the December-January survey period.
“Kami ay talagang bugbog sarado. With you supporting our advaocies, with you saying ang totoo kay Kiko at Bam, may nagawa, may gagawin,” he hoped.
The former senator, who is running under the advocacy of food security and lower prices of goods, is banking on the support of the youth as both he and Aquino topped pre-election surveys conducted in colleges and universities.
“Hindi pa kami siguradong mananalo pero hindi ngayon ang eleksyon. Pero mas tiyak kaming papasok lalo na kapag ang kabataan tumindig, kumilos, kumampanya. Kaya gamitin natin ang ating impluwensya sa mga kapitbahay, kamaganakan, kaibigan, followers, sabihin natin ang totoo,” he appealed.
Pangilinan, who said he fought in the 2022 vice-presidential race to be a good example for his children that the country should be put above one’s own ambitions, shared that it was always a welcome surprise to him that people thought he was more good-looking in person than on television.
But beyond the compliments he received on the campaign trail and despite asking the young voters to “marites (to gossip)” about his physical traits, the former senator told them never to vote for candidates because of their looks.
“Wag nyo naman po akong boboto dahil ako’y gwapo. Iboto natin ang mga kandidato dahil gwapo ang hangarin, gwapo ang paninindigan, gwapo ang prinsipyo, gwapo ang record,” he said.
“Walang bahid tayo ng korapsyon sa 18 taon nating panunungkulan dahil kapag nagtiwala ang taumbayan, dapat ang lingkod bayan sinusukli sa tapat at totoong panunungkulan. Hindi sinusukli sa pagnanakaw sa pondo ng gobyerno. Ang tiwala ay sagrado (at) hindi dapat binabalewala,” he added.
In Batangas, Pangilinan is also expected to visit the Sampaguita Farm, the municipal halls of Nasugbi, Agoncillo, Alitagtag, Lemery, and the Butong Taal fisherfolk community.
The former senator will also pay courtesy calls to local chief executives there.