The 12 Senators That Matter

One of the most pressing issues with regard to senators is that either he or she is too close for comfort with the president or so antagonistic that despite good intentions of other political leaders some senators are always on the warpath.  Thus, Filipino voters should bear in mind that the senators that they vote should matter to the president that they will vote.  In other words, there should be a balance between party mates and oppositionists.  It is not good when the senators that will be voted are presidential lapdogs and more so if the winners are so against with everything else. 

Total Number of Candidates

Initially, there were more than 100 who filed their certificates of candidacy running for one of the 12 available slots as incoming senators come next election. By virtue of Commission on Election (COMELEC) procedures, the list was trimmed down and last January 21, 2016, it came up with final list of eligible candidates. The final count per this list is 52 senatorial candidates.

	Name to appear on the ballot	Name	\Political Party
1	ALUNAN, RAFFY IND	ALUNAN, RAFAEL III MORENO	IND
2	AMBOLODTO, INA LP	AMBOLODTO, NARIMAN ABDULLAH	LP
3	AQUINO, TONYBOY IND	AQUINO, ANTONIO BOMBATE	IND
4	ARQUIZA, GODOFREDO IND	ARQUIZA, GODOFREDO VILLAR	IND
5	BALIGOD, LEVITO IND	BALIGOD, LEVITO DONIEGO	IND
6	BELGICA, GRECO IND	BELGICA, GRECO ANTONIOUS BEDA BANTA	IND
7	BELLO, WALDEN IND	BELLO, WALDEN FLORES	IND
8	CAM, SANDRA PMP	CAM, SANDRA MARTINEZ	PMP
9	CATMON, JOEL PGRP	CATMON, JOEL URSABIA	PGRP
10	CHAVEZ, MEL WPPPMM	CHAVEZ, MELCHOR GONGORA	WPP/PMM
11	COLMENARES, NERI MKBYN	COLMENARES, NERI JAVIER	MAKABAYAN
12	DE LIMA, LEILA LP	DE LIMA, LEILA NORMA EULALIA JOSEFA MAGISTRADO	LP
13	DOMAGOSO, ISKO MORENO PMP	DOMAGOSO, FRANCISCO MORENO	PMP
14	DRILON, FRANK LP	DRILON, FRANKLIN MAGTUNAO	LP
15	GADON, LARRY KBL	GADON, LORENZO GACILO	KBL
16	GATCHALIAN, WIN NPC	GATCHALIAN, SHERWIN TING	NPC
17	GORDON, DICK IND	GORDON, RICHARD JUICO	IND
18	GUINGONA, TG LP	GUINGONA, TEOFISTO III DE LARA	LP
19	HONTIVEROS, RISA AKBYN	HONTIVEROS, ANA THERESIA NAVARRO	AKBAYAN
20	JAAFAR, PRINCESS ANGEL IND	JAAFAR, JAY ANGELIQUE SIBUG	IND
21	KABALU, EID IND	KABALU, MUSTAPHA MAMA	IND
22	KAPUNAN, ATTY. LORNA AKSYON	KAPUNAN, LORNA PATAJO	AKSYON
23	KIRAM, PRINCESS JACEL UNA	KIRAM, PRINCESS JACEL HICARTE	UNA
24	LACSAMANA, ALMA MORENO UNA	LACSAMANA, VENESA MORENO	UNA
25	LACSON, PANFILO IND	LACSON, PANFILO MORENA	IND
26	LAGARE, MR. JUROR IND	LAGARE, SIXTO BAFLOR	IND
27	LANGIT, REY UNA	LANGIT, REY MAGAT	UNA
28	LAPID, MARK AKSYON	LAPID, MARK TADEO	AKSYON
29	LIBAN, DANTE IND	LIBAN, DANTE VENTURA	IND
30	MAGANTO, ROMEO LAKAS	MAGANTO, ROMEO BAYLON	LAKAS CMD
31	MANZANO, EDU IND	MANZANO, EDUARDO BARRIOS	IND
32	MONTANO, ALLAN UNA	MONTANO, ALLAN SABLON	UNA
33	MONTAÑO, MON IND	MONTAÑO, RAON ENRIQUEZ	IND
34	NAPEÑAS, GETULIO UNA	NAPEÑAS, GETULIO PASCUA	UNA
35	OPLE, SUSAN NP	OPLE, MARIA SUSANA VASQUEZ	NP
36	OROZCO, EMMA IND	OROZCO, WILHELMINA SIOZON	IND
37	OSMEÑA, SERGIO III IND	OSMEÑA, SERGIO III DE LA RAMA	IND
38	PACQUIAO, MANNY UNA	PACQUIAO, EMMANUEL DAPIDRAN	UNA
39	PAEZ, MR. COOP IND	PAEZ, CRESENTE CALAGO	IND
40	PAGDILAO, SAMUEL IND	PAGDILAO, SAMUEL DULDULAO	IND
41	PALPARAN, JOVITO JR. IND	PALPARAN, JOVITO JR. SALVAÑA	IND
42	PANGILINAN, KIKO LP	PANGILINAN, FRANCIS NEPOMUCENO	LP
43	PETILLA, CARLOS JERICHO LO	PETILLA, CARLOS JERICHO LORETO	LP
44	RECTO, RALPH LP	RECTO, RALPH GONZALEZ	LP
45	RODRIGUEZ, ROGER IND	RODRIGUEZ, ROGER ALIM	IND
46	ROMUALDEZ, MARTIN LAKAS	ROMUALDEZ, FERDINAND MARTIN GOMEZ	LAKAS CMD
47	ROMULO, ROMAN IND	ROMULO, ROMAN TECSON	IND
48	SANTIAGO, DIONISIO IND	SANTIAGO, DIONISIO REYES	IND
49	SOTTO,VICENTE NPC	SOTTO, VICENTE III CASTELO	NPC
50	TOLENTINO, FRANCIS IND	TOLENTINO, FRANCIS NG	IND
51	VILLANUEVA, JOEL TESDAMAN LP	VILLANUEVA, EMMANUEL JOEL JOSE	LP
52	ZUBIRI, MIGZ IND	ZUBIRI, JUAN MIGUEL FERNANDEZ	IND

The List Profile

Looking at the list it is a mixed bag of candidates where there are those who are seeking re-elections, newbies, and the perennial losers.  Individually, the candidates are varied in terms of profession; there are lawyers, showbiz personalities, advocates, former congressmen, former cabinet secretaries, instant celebrities, whistleblower, a boxing champ, soldiers and ex-military men, and what have you. The list will make voters confuse as some of these names are familiar others are not.  Some are worth voting, and some are worth considering, and some are worth trying.  And there are just some whose names should not be in the list in the first place.

The Power of Senators

Now, before you make your choices with regard to whom shall be your 12 senators, it is right that you should know what are the roles of Senators so that you will be guided accordingly and come up with right choices and right leaders.  Take note that our Senate is modeled with that of The US Senate thus, it wields equal power with the House of Congress as every resolution and bill has to go through both houses and needs agreement by both house before that resolution or bill is pass to the president for signature.  However, once the House of Senate vetoed the bill it has lost its chance to become a law.  The bill should be approved by the Senate on the third reading it goes back to the House of Congress unless if there are similar bills or resolutions and in this case a bicameral resolution is needed to settle the matter or which version to pursue. 

The Role of a Senator

A Senator does not only pass laws or work with House of Congress, he or she also has other roles such as:

• ·         Scrutinizing the work of the government as a whole.
• ·         Create and defend legislations.
• ·         Become a member of different Senate Committee to analyze information gathered from different sources in the community or in the country, presented by lobby groups and advocates, and other members of the society where these information may aid them in formulating relevant laws for the betterment of the country.
• ·         Attend and participate on Senate hearings in aid of legislation.
• ·         Promote their views in the Senate.

The 12 Senators

The twelve senators that matters is a personal thing.  Each voter has different set of candidates.  While political parties are encouraging voters to bloc vote, however, it has been standard practice of many senatorial candidates to align themselves with more than one party.  Recent trends in voting senators revealed that re-electionist tend to win a seat, famous movies star sometimes are guaranteed to win, and sons and daughters of politicians have better chances of winning even their relatives too. 

Caveat Emptor

Many groups advocating choosing right leaders are frustrated as their advocacy are not realized.  Filipinos tend to have this fan mentality and “alipin” complex where they vote those whom they are familiar with and whom they believe can improve their individual lives not the collective lives of all Filipinos.  Thus, at the end of election period, many are frustrated with the results as there are those who are more credible, qualified, and competent end up as losers.  In the first place, how can one choose the right leaders when only a few are considered credible, qualified, and competent? 

Photo credits (in order of appearance)

cnnphilippines.com

mb.com.ph

rappler.com

filipinofreethinkers.org

newsinfor.inquirer.net