Two former presidential hopefuls trooped to the Commission on Elections office on Thursday, this time to try their luck at winning a Senate seat.
Former senator Jamby Madrigal, the lone "traditional" politician to file her candidacy Thursday, vowed to practice transparency to water rates if elected.
She added she will continue working for "justice, truth, transparency (and the fight against) corruption." She also promised to study the Cybercrime Law and the Freedom of Information bill.
She said the portions of the Cybercrime Law have already been addressed by a law she helped pass criminalizing child pornography. She did not however give her position on the Freedom of Information bill.
Madrigal, who ran against President Benigno Aquino III in the 2010 elections, is now a member of the administration Liberal Party and will run under the administration banner. In the run-up to the 2010 elections, she accused Senator Manuel Villar Jr. of using his influence to have a road project diverted to benefit his real estate projects. Former Las Pinas representative Cynthia Villar, the senator's wife, is on the same slate as Madrigal.
Madrigal stressed that her accusations against Senator Villar were nothing personal. She added she did not take digs made at her by Villar ally Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano back then. "You know how campaigns are," she said.
Another losing presidential candidate, Juan Carlos delos Reyes of Ang Kapatiran Party, filed his candidacy. He said he and his partymates, Lito David and lawyer Marwin Llasos, are running to "bring dignity back to politics."
Delos Reyes scored other candidates who, he said, have turned the filing of their candidacies into spectacles. "They are like fighting cocks," he said, adding most candidates rely on flashy gimmicks and not on platforms.
He also took aim at traditional political parties for "bastardizing" politics by choosing candidates based on popularity and influence. "This is madness," he said.
Delos Reyes fared poorly in the 2010 elections but said each election is a chance for "engagement and (for the) political education" of the country.
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