ENDEAVOR
After all these years, it’s only while writing this column last week that I came upon an interesting discovery. Ceferino Paz Arroyo, Jr. is the real name of the late former Senator Joker Arroyo whom I admired greatly as one of the non-traditional politicians to have emerged from the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution. That watershed event is, of course, what led to my career in government service, an event I did not dream nor plan for, but one I was only too happy to have experienced, alongside my career in the academe as a teacher, and in business as a corporate executive.
In less than a month, I will join millions of Filipinos in voting for local government officials, as well as for senators, and their district and party-list representatives for the House. This column is dedicated to sharing with readers my thoughts on who might be deserving, too, of their votes.
Former Senator and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, first nominee of Mamamayang Liberal, is my top-of-mind candidate for party-list representative. I had the privilege of working with her closely during the Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino presidency. She is a truly dedicated and exemplary public servant who demonstrated her faith in the country’s justice system throughout more than seven years of being unjustly detained for trumped-up charges that were all eventually dismissed, or from which she was exonerated. Truly, Leila de Lima deserves an opportunity to become anew a member of our legislature so she could participate in crafting laws that will be beneficial to the nation.
Among the candidates for mayor that I won’t be able to vote for — as I don’t reside in his city — but still admire the most is Victor Ma. Regis ‘Vico’ Nubla Sotto, who is running for his third and last term as Pasig City mayor. Vico prepared conscientiously for a career as an elected public official. He earned a Master in Public Management degree from the Ateneo School of Government in 2018 after earning a political science degree from the same university to enrich his formal education in politics, while serving as Pasig City Councilor. He said in a media interview that he set his sights on a public service career and believed it was necessary for an aspirant to acquire professional management skills.
Mayor Vico shone during the Covid-19 pandemic when he courageously fought for those among his constituents needing dialysis and chemotherapy. Despite the total quarantine imposed by the national government, he fielded tricycles to ferry the sick to their regular treatment regimen. He eventually relented; generous private donors provided electric transport vehicles.
Garnering 63.27 percent of all votes in his first mayoralty run in 2019, he won 88 percent of all votes in his 2022 reelection. Poised to win a third and last term in next month’s elections, he will turn 40 years old only in June 2029, or more than a year after the next presidential elections in 2028. Hence, he is qualified to run for President only in 2034. He could run for Senator in 2031 and duplicate the late Noynoy Aquino’s feat of first winning a Senate seat before running for President.
Indeed, Vico Sotto offers a fresh hope among voters ardently seeking for worthwhile alternatives in a field composed mostly of traditional politicians relying primarily on financial clout in seeking to get elected to public office. His idealism is exceptionally refreshing at a time when assorted opportunists are vying to attain electoral triumph for which they are completely undeserving.
Among the 66 candidates for Senator, I have listed incumbent Senator Francis Tolentino and former Senators Kiko Pangilinan and Bam Aquino, as well as former Commission on Audit Commissioner Heidi Mendoza on top of my list.
Francis Tolentino was one of my fellow Cabinet members in the Aquino administration. I witnessed at close range his exceptional industry and dedication to duty as chairperson of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA). At the height of Typhoon Yolanda or Haiyan in November 2013, he personally led a disaster relief contingent, mobilizing the MMDA’s heavy duty equipment for clearing the massive debris, building temporary shelter and hastening the recovery in Tacloban City and environs.
Kiko Pangilinan served a brief stint in the Cabinet after doing two consecutive Senate terms, as presidential assistant on food security and agricultural modernization. He won a third Senate term in 2016, before teaming up with Leni Robredo in the 2022 presidential elections.
Bam Aquino’s passionate advocacy for youth development, education and science and technology during his initial Senate stint mirrors his earnest aspirations for meaningful legislation if elected anew.
Heidi Mendoza’s response to the call of civic duty is truly exemplary. She was a Career Executive Service Officer who served with dedication at the Commission on Audit (COA). Recall her role in exposing high-level malpractices in Armed Forces of the Philippines procurement which led to her appointment by President Aquino as COA Commissioner in 2011. In October 2015, she became head of the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services, serving in this role until October 2019, “overseeing internal audits, investigations and inspections to ensure the integrity of the United Nations’ operations worldwide” and as external auditor for the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), World Health Organization (WHO), and International Labor Organization (ILO).
She projects a strong desire to focus “on empowering budget literacy through legislation that would teach people about the government’s financial activities, as well as advocating for the (abolition) of any form of pork barrel funding.”
Voting for highly competent candidates will go a long way toward improving the quality of governance that, in turn, is key to attaining long-term and sustainable national development. Let every Filipino voter exercise this right wisely on May 12, 2025.
Comments may be sent to sonnycoloma@gmail.com