FRESH FACES: SENATE 2016 ?

FRESH FACES:  SENATE 2016 ?

    Five incumbent senators ineligible to run

      pictures: Mannny Pacquiao ,Leni Robredo, Leila de Lima, Sherwin Gatchalian

With five incumbent senators disallowed by law to seek reelection in 2016, there is ample room for new faces in the Philippine senate. Senators Miriam Santiago,  Lito Lapid, Pia Cayetano,  the incarcerated Bong Revilla , Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile end their two terms as senators in 2016.

Before the Napoles scandal, Revilla and Estrada did not hide their ambition to run for president (Lakas) and vice president (under VP Jojo Binay) as their two terms were  also ending.

In Manila at the Intercontinental Hotel Wednesday, presumptive UNA presidential candidate  Vice president Jojo Binay mentioned to media the names of two, Valenzuela Rep Sherwin Gatchalian (NPC) and Saranggani Rep Manny Pacquiao as among the 16 names  bruited inside UNA for the 2016 senatorial elections. He refused to name the  14 others.

Pacquiao, who was ineligible to run for VP in 2010, will be 37 years old by 2016, two years above the senate minimum of 35 years. He is hailed as the “greatest Filipino boxer” of all time, winning in eight different weight categories-an unsurpassed world record and has very good following.

Among Liberal Party stalwarts, the name of Camarines Rep. Leni Robredo , wife of the immensely popular and well-loved former DILG chief the late Jesse Robredo, is often talked about. She is considered a potential top five finishers , if ever.

REELECTIONIST SENATORS

In 2016, the LP reelectionist senators include senate president Franklin Drilon, TG Guingona and Ralph Recto to include independent senator Serge Osmena as possible guest candidate.Among the possible administration bets could be the popular ones like Agriculture (cabinet ranked) officer Kiko Pangilinan (unless he seeks a higher office as VP),  DOJ secretary Leila de Lima , Akabayan former Rep Risa Hontiveros and even Budget secretary Butch Abad.

Also-rans could include DOTC secretary Joseph Abaya, MMDA Chairman  Francis Toentino , Lucy Torres-Gomez (Leyte Rep) , Shalani Romulo (Pasig Rep) and Neptali Gonzales (Mandaluyong Rep. and majority floor leader).

Other reelectionists would be senators Bongbong Marcos (NP) and Tito Sotto (NPC). There are , therefore, six reelectionist senators in 2016.

Manny Villar or son  Rep Marvin  and Cavite’s Guilbert Remulla  (former Rep)can be viable name-recall candidates for the NP.

Names mentioned possibly under the UNA slate (aside from Pacquiao and Gatchalian) are: Benhur Abalos (Mandaluyong Mayor) or his father  former Comelec chairman Ben, any of the two Binays ( Mayor Jun Jun or Rep Marilen), UNA spokesman Navotas Rep Toby Tiangco , maverick oppositionist senator Joker Arroyo and even (Cavite Rep) actress Lani Mercado-Revilla (wife of Bong).

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV (NP) who was elected under the Pnoy Coalition in 2013 said that the NP and LP Coalition is only for the legislative agenda of the president but will end politically in 2016- where senator Allan Cayetano is  considered as one of the leading NP presidential candidates.

>Th�Plc�( 0f% nfiscated 0.3 grams of crystalized substance believed to be shabu with street value of P500 pesos and the marked money from Lusterio.

From Modesto Maghinay, the police team confiscated 0.3 grams of crystalized substance believed to be shabu with street value of worth P500, and the marked money.

In Batuan, a team from the PIB and the municipal police station of Batuan arrested Benedect Gacayan in another buy-bust operation at around 6:15 a.m. last Friday in barangay Poblacion Vieja.

The police team confiscated a small plastic transparent cellophane containing white crystalline substance believed to be shabu and the marked money of P500 from Gacayan.

After the buy-bust, the police team proceeded to the house of Gacayan and implemented the search warrant issued by Presiding Judge Patsita Gamutan of RTC Branch 51.

Confiscated during the raid were four small transparent cellophane containing white crystalline substance believed to be shabu and several drug paraphernalia from Gacayan’s house.(with reports from Weli Maestrado, Rey Tutas, and Ciel Remolador)

“Time�e �( 0f% lor:black’>Last week, the duo of Poe and Escudero hinted they might run as a tandem in 2016 not specifying who would be the presidential bet between them.

Binay’s national approval rating dropped by 6 percentage points but was still the highest among the major national figures.

GOOD MANAGER OF MAKATI CITY

The UNA head took the chance to prove  to the businessmen-audience that he was a good manager of the Makati city, the premier city in the country, as he cited that from 1986 city revenues of  only P208-M , it is now a P60- Billion revenue city. Binay was the first local government official appointed in 1986 by president Cory Aquino under the Freedom Constitution.

Makati operates on a P10-B surplus and by progressive taxation and good land use planning had benefited the poor settlers of Makati and not just the rich in the Makati Central Business districts and the uppity subdivisions.  He claimed to have provided cheap and quality medical services to the indigent folks and to senior citizens.

Binay told FINEX and the MAP members that he believed in the PPP as it shows business and government cannot live without the other. Pressed on the DAP issue, he said the process of investigation must go on so that issues will be clarified. THE UNA  as a party did not support calls for the impeachment of the president over the DAP issue; Binay,however, egged the president to accept the resignation of Budget secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad over the DAP.

Abad is a leading LP stalwart backing its president Mar Roxas for president.

GOOD MANAGER OF PAG IBIG

Binay said that he inherited an almost bankrupt Pag-ibig institution in  2010 due to fraud and huge bad receivables. He said it has reduced the past due by 38% or P4.8B of the P 7-B original bad portfolio. The institution, now ranked 7th among the best  (revenues and net income)Good Financial Institution, through imposed higher lending standards, outsourced collection efforts  and selling foreclosed assets to improve its liquidity.

From “only 8 million members of Pag-inbg in 2010 , there are now 14 million total members”, he proudly declared. Its equity is now 18-20% of assets which is higher than  that required of commercial banks of 10%.

“Interest rates of Pag-ibig loans have been reduced from the past’s 11.5% to only 6.5%  today and even to a low 4% for minimum wage earner borrowers”, he concluded.

PRESIDENTIAL GOAL 2016

It is obvious that VP Binay is strengthening his image and fortifying alliances as he makes clearer his fixation on being president of the nation of 100 million Filipinos by 2016.

His rivals are expected to do the opposite. Shatter the image of the former human rights lawyer, so that his path would go down southward way like the other initial front runners in the past  experienced like the late Ramon Mitra  (1992)and Manny Villar (2010).

They will harp on the fact that the successor of an anti-graft president like Noynoy Aquino must have an unsullied record as Aquino has in terms of clean governance. Is VP Binay the right guy?

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