Sorsogon Governor Francis Escudero and Antique Representative Loren Legarda on Wednesday, June 23 confirmed they would be seeking a fresh mandate in the upcoming May 2022 senatorial elections.
Legarda said she is going to bring to the table her vast experience as a three-term senator in the past and her two year experience as a member of the House of Representatives.
“I’m a builder...and what we need in leadership right now are people who can build, who can heal ...especially at this time of a pandemic,” Legarda said, in an interview on ANC’s Dateline.
“I tell you this pandemic, will be more intense, it will be more frequent ... especially if we don’t use science-based solutions (to deal with it),” said the senator, who promised to continue her advocacies on environment, climate change, health, women and children in the Upper Chamber.
Escudero also confirmed the reports he plans to run for the Senate again.
“I do plan to place my name once again in the ballot for the Senate in the hope that I will be able to do my part in helping our country recover from this pandemic after this administration,” Escudero said also in an interview.
Asked what he plans to bring to the Senate that he has not done in his last two terms, Escudero said: “My experience in local government...Legislating and executing laws are two different things.”
The Sorsogon governor was senator from 2007 to 2019 and then ran and won the last elections to become the governor of the province. He also served as member of the House of Representatives from 1998 to 2007, representing the first district of Sorsogon.
It was Senate President Vicente Sotto III, the acting chairman of the NPC, who earlier bared of the party’s plans to field Legarda, Escudero and former Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito as their possible senatorial bets in next year’s polls.
Sotto also disclosed the NPC is open to supporting Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, an independent, should the latter decides to run in the 2022 presidential elections.
Lacson and Sotto are reportedly mulling running in tandem as presidential and vice presidential candidate respectively, next year.