Former senator Kiko Pangilinan is banking on “protest votes” in his Senate comeback bid in the May 2025 elections.
Independent senatorial candidate Kiko Pangilinan is the guest speaker at the Rotary Club of Makati event on People Power and the 2025 elections. (Photo from Pangilinan's campaign team)
In an interview at the “People Power and the 2025 Elections”, an event organized by the Rotary Club of Makati on Tuesday, Feb. 25, the former senator and vice presidential candidate underscored the need for people to stand up and protest the injustices they see through their votes.
“We felt, as I said, there’s such a thing as a protest vote. Historically, nakita natin ‘yan (we already saw that),” he said, explaining former senator Sonny Trillanes’ 2007 senatorial win while in incarcerated and the “protest vote” in 2010 when the late former Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III won the presidency.
He himself had benefited from the protest votes, as he topped the polls in numerous provinces and cities when he first ran as a senator as an independent candidate.
“At ‘pag nakita ng ating mga kababayan itong matinding katiwalian, ‘yung pagiging abusado sa pwesto, historically, ang taumbayan tumitindig, tumataya, at lumalaban (When our countrymen see the corruption, the abuse of power, historically, the people rise up, take a bet, and fight),” Pangilinan, who is running now as an independent candidate, explained.
“So hopefully, nakikita ng ating mga kababayan itong mga mapapait na katotohanan at baka sakali tumindig at tumaya at lumaban sa pamamagitan ng mapayapang, sabi ko nga electoral uprising na peaceful (our countrymen see the bitter reality and they might stand up and fight through peaceful electoral uprising),” he added.
Pangilinan and former senator Bam Aquino, former Liberal Party members, are now running as independents and offering themselves as alternatives to the administration’s slate and Duterte-backed candidates.
Pangilinan lamented that the tandem of the Marcoses and Dutertes promised unity, which they failed to deliver as they have now thrown accusations against each other, with former president Rodrigo Duterte warning that President Marcos wants to prolong his hold to power.
“Sila kasi ang nangakong unity. Ngayon, sila ang nagbabangayan. Nakakalungkot. Bakit ganun? In the meantime, tayo, dala namin ang isyu ng ating mga kababayan: mataas na presyo ng pagkain at bilihin, edukasyon at katiyakan ng trabaho (They promised unity. Now, they are fighting. It’s sad. Why is it like that? In the meantime, we carry the issues of our people: high prices of food and goods, education, and job assurance),” he said.
With the campaign period in full swing, the former senator appealed to the people to be vigilant and critical of the information they receive, especially on social media.
“In the past elections, talagang laganap ang disinformation at pagsisinungaling galing sa iba’t ibang kampo. So ang panawagan na lang natin dito sa mga bitiw na salita na ito, kung totoo ba ito, eh nasa sa atin, maging mapanuri tayo. Huwag tayo basta-basta nagpapaniwala (disinformation and lies proliferate from various camps. So, our call to these kinds of statements, if it is true, it lies on us, let’s be vigilant. Let’s not believe everything we hear),” Pangilinan added when asked about Duterte’s tirades against Marcos.
Aquino and Pangilinan are both in a tight race to the Magic 12. The recent Pulse Asia survey results showed them in 15th to 18 and 15th to 16th, respectively, but Aquino said they are hopeful these numbers will pick up as the campaign season progresses.