CEBU CITY — His name definitely rings a bell for most people but why Herbert Bautista is not dominating the surveys for senatoriables in the 2022 elections?
The former Quezon City mayor knows where the problem is and that’s something that he is trying to address to boost his senatorial bid.
“My friends are telling me that the people know Herbert Bautista but they do not know that Herbert Bautista is running for senator,” Bautista said in Filipino during a press conference here on Friday, Nov. 26.
Popularly known as Bistek, Bautista has been going around the country to meet local government unit (LGU) officials. It is through visiting various places in the country that Bautista knew that some people remained unaware of his candidacy for senator.
“I was in Carbon market in Cebu City. The people were shouting “Captain Barbell” is here!” but they were surprised when they were told that I was running for senator,” said Bautista.
Bautista arrived in Cebu on Thursday, Nov. 25. His itineraries included visiting the wake of City Mayor Edgardo Labella and met with some local officials.
The 53-year-old Bautista, who made a name for himself for starring in several comedy films, said his ranking in surveys has been improving.
“I’m already number 16 in surveys but the candidates ahead of me are heavyweights so there’s more work to be done,” he said.
Bautista said he is looking for ways to promote his candidacy “as I want to make myself known again especially to the millennials.”
Bautista joked that he may resort to dancing “budots” in popular video-sharing app Tiktok to reach more people.
“Perhaps I would engage someone in a fistfight or I will do “budots.” Senator Bong (Revilla) told me that he did “budots” for two weeks,” Bautista said, laughing.
Bautista expressed confidence that the entertainment industry will back his candidacy. He is also hoping to get support from his ex-flame Kris Aquino.
“Hopefully, she will support me,” said Bautista.
Turning serious, Bautista is hoping to get the support of the Cebuanos especially after meeting with Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia.
“I am not really confident that I would get their (Cebu leaders) support,” Bautista said, drawing laughter from the press.
As a senatorial candidate, getting the support of Cebu will be crucial as the province is the most vote-rich province in the country, he said.
“I am aware that Cebuanos are intelligent voters, they discern, they talk about issues and very critical. I have to get to that point where I can ventilate my views on certain issues,” he said.
If elected as senator, Bautista talked several plans and one of them is to help the coffee industry in Tuburan town, northern Cebu.
Bautista said the state of the coffee industry in Tuburan was discussed in a meeting with the town Vice Mayor Aljun Diamante.
“I also got to talk with the people in Cavite which is used to be an exporter of coffee. The coffee industry in our country is still weak. Our country should be known to have the best coffee,” he said.