MANILA, Philippines — Labor leaders Leody de Guzman and Luke Espiritu formalized their senatorial bids as they filed their certificates of candidacy (COCs) on Friday.
The Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM) on Friday officially nominated de Guzman and Espiritu as its senatorial candidates for the 2025 elections. Bearing the slogan “Manggagawa Naman!”, the pair vowed for laborers’ representation in the Senate.
“Sa darating na halalan, mayroon nang choice ang manggagawa. Hindi dinastiya, MANGGAGAWA NAMAN! Tungo sa pagtatayo ng gobyerno ng masa. Para sa totoong majority rules na totoong esensya ng demokrasya,” de Guzman said in a Facebook post.
(In the upcoming elections, the workers will now have a choice. Not a dynasty, but WORKERS! Towards building a government for the masses. For true majority rule, which is the real essence of democracy.)
The PLM said that they would be electing senators who would truly listen to and address the people’s calls.
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“Sa pagkakataong ito, ang laban natin sa senado ay hindi lang basta paghingi o paghiling o isang protestang muli sa mga senador na nakaupo, upang sila ay gumawa ng batas na pabor sa taumbayan,” PLM said in a statement.
(This time, our fight in the Senate is not just about asking or petitioning the sitting senators to pass laws that favor the people. It’s more than just another protest.)
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“Bagkus, tayo na mismo ang magluluklok ng mga senador na hindi na kailangang ralihan pa, upang tugunan ang matagal ng nararapat sa mamamayan. Sila na mismo ang gagawa ng batas na magsisilbi para sa masang Pilipino,” PLM added.
(Instead, we will elect people in the Senate who do not need to be called upon to push for what the public needs. They are the ones who will make legislation to serve the public.)
In the 2022 elections, De Guzman placed eighth in the presidential race while Espiritu ranked 34th in the senatorial race, 22 spots away from the ‘Magic 12.’ They both ran under the same political party.
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