By Perfecto T. Raymundo, Jr.
SAN JUAN CITY — The PDP-Laban on Thursday (Feb. 13) proclaimed its senatorial candidates for the May 12, 2025 midterm elections at the historic Club Filipino.
Led by former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and now the PDP-Laban Chairman, proclaimed were Atty. Jimmy Bondoc (10), Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa (22), Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go (28), Atty. Jayvee Hinlo (30), Sagip Party-List Rep. Rodante Marcoleta (38), Atty. Raul Lambino (34), the representative of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy (53), Atty. Vic Rodriguez (56), and popular actor Philip “Kuya Ipe” Salvador, Dela Rosa and Go are re-electionist senators.
Atty. Bondoc is a singer-song writer and former PAGCOR Vice President for Corporate Responsibility and Member of the Board of Directors.
Bondoc said that only Senators Dela Rosa, Bong Go and Robin Padilla are the only ones now who are fighting for the aspirations of the Filipino nation.
“The best of the best of the Duterte administration should be translated into law,” Bondoc said.
Dela Rosa, who is an opposition Senator, said that despite the struggles and difficult odds, he will not go to the other side of the political fence.
He added that that they are giving Feb. 11 to the administration camp such that they were termed as only vinegar buyers.
Dela Rosa stressed that Bondoc, Hinlo, Rodriguez, Marcoleta, and Rodriguez are all lawyers by professional training.
“No problem with ‘Team Suka’, because vinegar adds favor and taste to foods on the table of Filipino nation,” he said.
Dela Rosa added that they will utilize “Oplan Tokhang” in their political campaign as they have no money to spend for such a nationwide campaign.
He also sought the support for Quiboloy and Salvador.
Atty. Hinlo recalled that he was one of those in 2014, who encouraged then Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte to run for President for the 2016 presidential election such that there has been no President from Mindanao for the longest time.
He urged Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao to unite and elect the nine senatorial candidates of the PDP-Laban and Team Duterte so that Vice President Sara Duterte will not be impeached by the Senate.
Hinlo will amend the Procurement Law to stop graft and corruption. He will push for industrialization in order to generate more jobs. He will also push for educational reforms, including the Taxation System.
Hinlo was a former DILG Undersecretary, and Landbank executive, among others.
Rp. Marcoleta said that 30% of the P6.326 Trillion goes to corruption.
He cited that the Vice President was impeached in the 19th Congress “even if there was no basis.”
He added that lawyers are needed in the 20th Congress, otherwise, “We will go to the dogs.”
Marcoleta has been serving in Congress for 18 years already.
Atty. Israelito Torreon represented Quiboloy.
Torreon noted that the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC), which has more than 7 million members worldwide, is one of the leading religions in the world today.
A taped video showed the mission and vision of the KOJC and the challenges that it has been going through.
In his video message, Quiboloy expressed his full support to the reforms instituted by former President Duterte who brought the “Golden Age” in the country’s history and vowed for “zero corruption”.
He urged for a “Straight Vote” for the senatorial candidates of Team Duterte and PDP-Laban in the May 12, 2025 midterm elections.
Quiboloy, if elected as Senator, will be the gatekeeper of the public coffers. He will also push for the imposition of death penalty to corrupt and plunderers, sustainable environment, National Highway System and zero corruption in government.
Bong Go was elected Senator in 2019 with more than 21 million votes and placed No. 3.
Sen. Bong Go said that the victory of the Team Duterte and PDP-Laban senatorial candidates will be the victory for the Filipino.
“The service to Filipino is the service to God, to Allah,” he said.
He cited Sen. Dela Rosa, Atty. Hinlo, Atty. Lambino, Rep. Marcoleta, Pastor Quiboloy, Atty. Rodriguez, and Philip Salvador, who will all prioritize first the interest of the Filipino.
Sen. Bong Go passed 16 laws and co-authored 80 laws in the 19th Congress.
As Chairman of the Committee on Health, he pushed for the establishment of more than 160 Malasakit Centers natiineide, more than 700 Super Health Centers and Regional Specialty Centers in five years.
He did not sign in the BiCam report as there was zero subsidy for PhilHealth in the 2025 General Appropriations Act.
As Chairman of the Committee on Sports, he acknowledged the first ever two gold medals in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Atty. Rodriguez expressed his gratitude for being included in the Duterte senatorial candidates.
He said that the war on corruption is such that they have filed a case questioning the constitutionality of the 2025 P6.326-Trillion General Appropriations Act (GAA).
Rodriguez will monitor the annual budget so that there will be no more “blanks” in the GAA.
He will push for the amendment of the Plunder Law such that the threshold amount of P50 million will be lowered to P1 million.
If the Plunder Law is amended, Rodriguez will push for the reimposition of death penalty and will continue with the war on drugs.
He will push for the strengthening of the PDEA by making the drug test mandatory beginning in Malacañang.
Rodriguez slammed the improbability of the 250 signatures in the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte in the House of Representatives.
He vowed to protect the sanctity of the 32 million Filipinos who elected into office Vice President Duterte in 2022.
Atty. Lambino cited Bondoc as a great singer, Rodriguez as “primus inter pares”, Salvador who did not push through with his gubernatorial run, Bato as former PNP Chief, should be reelected in the Senate.
Lambino assured a good working relationship with his fellow eight senatorial candidates of the PDP-Laban.
He will push for food security, the fight against graft and corruption.
Lambino and Go, who are both adopted Members of the PMA Class of 1992, will push for the creation of the Department of Veterans Affairs such that the PVAO is just an attached agency of the Department of National Defense.
Lambino, who hails from Pozzorubio, Pangasinan, is the only Ilocano in the nine senatoriables of the PDP-Laban.
Salvador called one by one his fellow eight other senatorial candidates to stand up and be recognized.
He has been in the movie industry for 27 years and he saw the “poorest of the poor all over the Philippines” with Senator Bong Go.
He opened the “book of his life” for the second time around and will be his “last hurrah” as an actor and as a public servant.
He would like to restore peace and order, stop the illegal drug trade, and jobs not ayuda
The welfare of the senior citizens is also included in the advocacy of Salvador. “My heart goes to them,” he said.
In a message, Vice President Duterte expressed her gratitude and support for the proclamation of the senatorial candidates of the PDP-Laban.
She asked for support for the election of the nine senatoriables of the PDP-Laban in the May 12, 2025 midterm elections.
In his speech, PDP-Laban President Sen. Robinhood Robin Padilla said that
Former Executive Secretary Atty. Salvador “Bingbong” Medialdea introduced the guest of honor and speaker former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
Duterte said that
The nine senatorial candidates were endorsed by the PDP-Laban.
Also present were former Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama, Sarangani Province, Muntinlupa City Congressman Garing, PDP-Laban VP for NCR & Region 3 Vivian Velez, former House Speaker and now Davao del Sur (1st District) Rep. Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez, Atty. Tony Torreon, San Jose Del Monte City, Bulacan Vice Mayor Paul Pillas, Ronald Cardemas of Duterte Youth Party-List, Greco Belgica of Bisaya Gyud Partylist, and Dr. Lorraine Badoy, among others.
