On Monday, May 13, the Philippines will hold its 31st senatorial elections to decide the new set of senators who will serve the country for the next three to six years.
From 82 aspirants who filed for candidacy last year, only 33 passed the Commission on Election’s (Comelec) benchmark and were deemed eligible to compete for the 12 seats in the senate.
Social Weather Stations – a private non-stock, nonprofit social research institution that has been releasing senatorial election polls since 1985 – in cooperation with business paper BusinessWorld, recently released the results of the 6th SWS-BW Pre-Election Survey which revealed the standings of the 33 competing senatorial hopefuls based on the citizen’s voting preferences.
The latest survey conducted in the period April 13 to 15, 2013, with 1,800 registered voters from different places as respondents, showed 13 candidates – nine from Team PNoy and four from the United Nationalist Alliance – as the frontrunners of the senatorial race.
Watch out this week as The LaSallian provides a brief profile of the senatorial hopefuls who are sitting on the winning circle of the latest SWS-BW survey in anticipation of next week’s elections.
Tonight we start with the two tied candidates at 12th-13th place: Jack Enrile and Gringo Honasan.
12th-13th
Jack Enrile (UNA)
The Senate President’s only son and namesake, Juan Castaner “Jack” Enrile, seeks to follow his father’s footsteps in the Senate as he runs under the UNA ticket for this coming election.
Cagayan representative Jack Enrile competes with co-party list Gregorio Honasan on the last spot on the Magic 12 according the SWS-BW April survey as they both garnered 37 percent – or 666 votes – of the total 1,800.
Enrile now sits on the SWS-BW winning circle after falling short on the last two surveys, placing 13th in the February results and 13-14th on March results.
As Congressman of Cagayan, the senate hopeful’s Countrywide Development Fund (CDF) is announced to have been used to build various infrastructures like farm to market roads, water impounding projects, and rehabilitation of roads and drainages.
Since 2010, Congressman Enrile advocated a more accessible food supply for the Filipinos, with his political commercial tagline saying, “Walang Pilipino and Dapat Magutom sa Sariling Bayan” (No Filipino should experience hunger in their own country). Consequently, he became the principal author of the Anti-Monopoly Bill and Food for Filipinos.
He also authored the Batas Kasambahay or Domestic Workers Act, which improves the policy protecting the welfare of domestic workers, and the Credit Access and Protection Reform Bill.
If elected, Jack Enrile promises to prioritize food sovereignty or the localizing of food production and distribution.
12th-13th
Gringo Honasan (UNA)
Tied with Jack Enrile for the last spot on SWS-BW Pre-Election Survey’s winning circle is EDSA I hallmark Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan.
At the age of 38, Honasan acted to remove former and dictator President Ferdiand Marcos from office. The uncovering of his group’s plot was a significant turn in the drama of the 1986 People Power Revolution.
His oppositionist movements did not stop, as he was involved in various coup attempts against succeeding President Cory Aquino. He was responsible for the August 28, 1987 military putsch against the government, leading to his imprisonment.
After being granted amnesty by 12th Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos in 1992, Honasan, maximizing his oppositional ‘rebel’ image, entered politics three years later and became the first independent candidate to win a seat on the senate.
On his first term as senator, he became the principal author and co-author of various bills, among others, the National Security Policy, Disaster Risk Reduction Management Act of 2009, Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms Law (CARPER), Clean Air Act of 1999 and Clean Water Act.
Re-electionist hopeful Gringo Honasan is the current Chairperson of the Senate Committees on Agrarian Reform, Public Information and Mass Media, and Public Order and Dangerous Drugs.
