As the lone opposition senatorial candidate poised to secure a spot in the 19th Congress, Senator Risa Hontiveros on Thursday, May 12, said she intends to “stay in this long and very serious game” with the administration of presumptive president Fedinand Marcos Jr.
Hontiveros, who will be in her second term to serve in the Upper Chamber, maintains she would serve as the opposition's voice amid the “heavily contested democracy.”
“We have to survive. Hindi ‘yan na gusto lang namin (It’s not because we only want to), it’s a fundamental requirement of a working democracy. The opposition has to stay in the game and we intend to,” she said in an interview with ANC.
“It’s our duty, kung meron kaming mga (if we have) fundamental disagreements with any administration, tungkulin namin (our duties are) not just for ourselves but the citizens who deserve representation kapag merong mga puna, kapag merong pagkukulang, pagkakamali (if there are criticims, if there are shortcomings, mistakes), these have to be corrected. These gaps have to be filled,” she added.
The senator cited the rebuilding of the country as well as the maturation process of its democracy may take long, but the opposition intends to stay in the course.
“Long game kasi ito, long game ‘yung ating pagbubuo ng ating bansa (This is a long game, rebuilding our country is a long game). Long game ‘yung pagma-mature ng ating (It’s a long game the maturity of our) heavily contested democracy. And the opposition, we intend to stay in this long and very serious game” she added.
In a separate statement, Hontiveros thanked her supporters but maintained that she will continue to stand up with defeated presidential and vice-presidential bets Vice President Leni Robredo and Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, respectively.
Hontiveros, a member of progressive group Akbayan, run under the Team Leni-Kiko. With an 11th spot and 15.2 million votes, according to the partial and unofficials results from the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) transparency server, she’ll be the lone opposition in a Senate filled with pro-administration lawmakers.
“Maraming maraming salamat po sa inyo. Ang kampanya pong ito ay para sa mga kababaihan, mga kabataan, mga manggagawang Pilipino, lahat ng nagdusa sa pandemyang ito (Thank you very much to you all. This campaign is for the women, youth, Filipino workers, to all who suffer from this pandemic),” she said.
“Speaking of puso, ‘yung puso ko ay tumitindig pa rin kasama nina VP Leni at Sen. Kiko, ‘yung mga kasama at kaibigan ko sa Tropang Angat. Isa sa pinakamalaking karangalan sa buhay ko so far na lumaban sa tabi nila (heart, my heart continues to stand up with VP Leni and Sen. Kiko, and our friends in Tropang Angat. One of the biggest honors of my life so far is to fight alongside them),” Hontiveros added.
The reelectionist senator run under the platform of “Healthy Buhay, Hanapbuhay,” with the chant “R1sa Pa!”
She is the lone opposition bet to get into the Magic 12, even as her Akbayan group failed to get a partylist seat in the House of Representatives.
Hontiveros called on Filipinos to work together to fight for “dream society.”
“Nananawagan din ako sa ating mga kababayan, hindi natatapos ang ating tungkulin kay Inang Bayan sa araw ng eleksyon. Patuloy po nating ilaban ang pinapangarap nating lipunan (I call on our fellowmen, our duty to our Motherland does not end on the day of the election. Let us continue fighting for our dream society),” she said.