FILING BY PROXY Dr. Anna Liza Ramoso-Ong submits the certificate of candidacy of her husband, Dr. Willie Ong, who is in Singapore seeking treatment for cancer. Willie Ong, who is running for the Senate, says his campaign will be based on faith. —Niño Jesus Orbeta
MANILA, Philippines — Cancer-stricken doctor-vlogger Willie Ong officially launched a second bid for a Senate seat on Thursday with his counsel saying he would run a “faith-based” campaign.
Ong’s certificate of candidacy (COC) was filed in the Commission on Elections (Comelec) by his wife, Dr. Anna Liza Ramoso-Ong, who tearfully thanked his supporters for their prayers while he is undergoing treatment for sarcoma, a rare type of cancer, in Singapore. She was accompanied by Agri party list Rep. Wilbert Lee, who, like Ong, would be running under the Aksyon Demokratiko party.
The Ong family’s counsel, Gilbert Lauengco, said the doctor who ran for vice president in 2022 and for the Senate in 2019 was “doing fine” and would be back in the Philippines by the end of November.
READ: Doc Willie Ong bares 2025 Senate run despite cancer diagnosis
He added that before his diagnosis, Ong had no intention of again going into politics but when he got sick, he “meditated,” changed his mind and decided to make his campaign “faith-based.”
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“Faith that people will understand, faith that God will give enough time [for him] to finish this, and faith that enough people will like and support him to propel him to the senate,” Lauengco said.
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Ong, an internist and cardiologist, is a popular vlogger on Facebook, where he has 17 million followers, as well as on YouTube, where he has 9.83 million subscribers.
The lawyer added that Ong’s sickness, which is treatable, will not deter him from campaigning, more so if he wins and starts serving as senator.
Incumbents, actor
Duterte allies and incumbent senators Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go and Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, together with actor Phillip Salvador, also filed their COCs for the Senate under the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino.
Salvador said that if elected, he would push for a government-initiated program to rehabilitate all drug addicts.
Dela Rosa, for his part, said he would continue his advocacies for peace and order and national defense and security, and push for a bill imposing the death penalty on high-level drug traffickers.
For Go, his priority was to continue authoring and sponsoring more laws to promote public health, generate jobs and livelihood, improve education, uplift the lives of the poor, among other things.
In Manila, incumbent Mayor Honey Lacuna filed her COC for reelection with her running mate, incumbent Vice Mayor John Marvin ‘Yul Servo’ Nieto.
“I wish him well. Good luck to him if he continues his run for mayor,” Lacuna said when asked about going head to head with her predecessor, Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso who is expected to file his COC next week.
Earlier, she said she felt betrayed by Domagoso’s plan to regain his old seat.
“To everyone who did not betray us, thank you very, very much. We will win. Mark my words—we will never waver, and we will never abandon you,” Lacuna said.
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Comelec Chair George Erwin Garcia, meanwhile, announced that St. Timothy Construction Corp. (STCC), has pulled out of the joint venture led by South Korean firm Miru Systems Co. Ltd, which is the poll body’s automated polls service provider, because its owners would be running either for a national or local post.
