La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega V (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)

Deputy Majority Leader La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega V castigated what he called bottom-dwelling senatorial candidates for resorting to attacking the House of Representatives and the Marcos administration instead of trying to get elected on their own merits. 

“Yung iba, bira nang bira sa House of Representatives. Contenders lang naman doon sa grupo nila is parang isa o dalawa,” Ortega said, without mentioning any name. 

(Other candidates resort to attacking the House of Representatives. But the contenders in their group are limited to just one or two.) 

“Yung iba, yung mga pambibira sa Presidente, sa House of Representatives, sila yung mga number 50, number 40. Kumbaga sinasakyan nila ‘yung kasikatan ng Presidente saka ng nagagawa niya,” noted the "Young Guns" bloc member. 

(Other candidates who assail the President, the House of Representatives, these are the ones who are number 50, number 40 in the surveys. In other words, they're riding the popularity of the President and his accomplishments.) 

Ortega emphasized that leadership is about offering real solutions, not just making noise when election season nears. 

The administration-backed Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas senatorial slate has been dominating surveys ahead of the May 12 mid-term elections. 

The La Union solon said these long-shot candidates continue to spread negativity despite failing to gain traction among voters. 

“Parang wala lang, sumasakay sila, naninira sila. Hindi naman sila umaangat sa survey. Feeling ko nga pag tumakbo ako baka mas mataas pa ako sa kanila,” he said, tongue-in-cheek. 

(It's like they're nothing, they're just riding on the issues and assail others. But they're not going up in the surveys. I feel that I'll do better in the surveys if I run for senator.) 

“Kaya kung ako sa kanila, plataporma ang ilatag nyo, huwag yung paninira (If I were them, lay out your platform instead of resorting to attacks),” he added. 

Ortega accused these fringe, opportunistic candidates of using smear tactics instead of presenting concrete programs that would benefit the people. 

He also slammed these bets for making grand promises despite having no track record of real public service.