BALLOONS AND ALL The start of the eight-day period for filing certificates of candidacy for the May 2025 elections has become a spectacle in itself, drawing this crowd at the Comelec desk set up at the Manila Hotel on Tuesday. —Grig C. Montegrande
MANILA, Philippines — “Medyo matumal” (quite slow and languid) was how Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chair George Garcia described Day One of the eight-day period for filing certificates of candidacy (COCs) for the May 2025 midterm elections.
Tuesday’s early birds at the COC filing desk set up by the Comelec at the Manila Hotel included both familiar names and new aspirants, including those banking on the popularity of their online content creations.
By day’s end, 17 people had filed COCs for senator, while 15 party list groups filed certificates of nomination and certificates of acceptance of nomination (Con-can).
READ: Election season kicks off: Familiar, new faces appear to file candidacy
The first senator-wannabe to file a COC was Agri Rep. Wilbert Lee, who wants to move from the House to the Senate under the Aksyon Demokratiko party.
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In the party list race, first to file a Con-can was the group Kabayan, which currently has one seat in the House.
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Sen. Francis Tolentino also arrived to formalize his bid for another six-year term, the first from the administration’s Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas ticket.
Though part of the lineup presented by President Marcos last week, Tolentino said he still held former President Rodrigo Duterte “in the highest esteem,” stressing there remained “no bad blood” between them.
Bayan Muna seeks a comeback at the House by again fielding three veteran activists—Neri Colmenares, Carlos Zarate and Ferdinand Gaite.
Buhay party list is fielding former Manila Mayor Lito Atienza as its first nominee in a fresh bid for a House seat.
Imee’s ‘fiancé’
Other aspirants who were declared nuisance candidates in past elections didn’t let those earlier disappointments stop them now.
One of them was Daniel Magtira, 63, of Tondo, Manila, who not only filed his COC for senator but also claimed being the “fiancé” of a current one, Sen. Imee Marcos, the President’s eldest sister. He also sang a song he composed for the senator as part of a presentation.
A security guard, Phil delos Reyes, has again set his sights on the Senate after being disqualified from joining the 2022 polls. “I just hope common people like me will be given a chance to serve the country genuinely, honestly and truthfully,” he said.
Alexander Encarnacion, an electrician and a carpenter, said he had an “invention” that he would introduce as an anticrime monitoring system if elected senator.
“I don’t have money. [The Comelec] said I didn’t have the capacity to launch a nationwide campaign. But hopefully this time, they will consider letting me run,” he said.
Online content creators are also testing if their virality can translate into political victory.
Marco Gamboa, the 40-year-old Manileño behind the accounts of “Models of Manila,” said he would like to be known as the “Vlogger in the Senate” and the voice of fellow content creators, online sellers, freelancers and netizens.
“I grew up with social media. I want to prove that one does not need so much money or a big name to win the election. It will be possible with the power of social media and hard work,” Gamboa said.
Norris John Okamoto, who is behind the Norris John Vlog on YouTube with over 315,000 subscribers, filed his Con-can as the first nominee of Lingap party list.
Okamoto has been mostly into “charity vlogs” (almsgiving) but also prank videos and motorcycle-related content.
“When I started, all of my content was really about helping [people], but I will not stop, and I will continue my advocacy through social media,” Okamoto said.
TikTok content creator Eli San Fernando registered as the first nominee of the Kamanggagawa party list.
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“Our party list believes that we are not the solution to the problems of workers. We are just a vehicle of reforms in Congress. We want to abolish the provincial rate and increase the salary of workers. No other agenda, no deceptions,” said San Fernando, who currently has 820,000 online followers.
