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Trillanes formalizes Senate re-election bid 


(Updated 11:30 a.m.) Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Wednesday formalized his re-election bid, filing his certificate of candidacy at the Commission on Elections main office in Manila amid threats by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile to campaign against him.  Trillanes is running under the banner of the Nacionalista Party, which is allied with the ruling Liberal Party in the 2013 midterm elections. He filed his COC at 10:41 a.m.
“Pwede niyang gawin kung ano gusto niyang gawin. Hindi ako natatakot sa kanya,” Trillanes told reporters, obviously referring to Enrile. 
 
Enrile had earlier said that he would "reveal during the campaign what kind of person" Trillanes is. "Kung gusto niya i-debate [namin] ito sa harap [ng publiko]. Dadalhin ko siya sa taongbayan at kung 'yung punto niya ay mananalo, luluhod ako sa kanya," Enrile had said. 2007 polls victory
Trillanes was accompanied by resigned Marine Col. Ariel Querubin, who also sought a Senate seat during the 2010 elections but lost.  Trillanes, a former Navy officer who faced rebellion and coup d' etat charges during the Arroyo administration, got his temporary freedom in December 2010 during the first months of the Aquino administration. 
 
He had been in jail since the July 2003 Oakwood mutiny, but won a Senate seat during the 2007 polls. In January 2011, he applied for amnesty, which was approved the same month.
Yet despite his poll victory in 2007 without the benefit of joining any campaign rally, Trillanes said he will not be complacent in next year's elections. In 2007, Trillanes was guest candidate of the Genuine Opposition.  
“Walang pwedeng magkumpiyansahan. Ang call lang natin rito i-presenta lang natin ang ating sarili at sila ang magpapasya,” he said.  
 
At the same time, Trillanes said he would leave it to the voters whether they would believe whatever Enrile will reveal against him.“Ang sa akin, ipapaubaya natin sa taumbayan yan. Marunong mangilatis ang taumbayan. Sila na ang magpapasya.”  Trillanes had accused Enrile of being a lackey of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, saying the Senate chief was trying to railroad the passage of a bill splitting Camarines Sur. Enrile countered by criticizing Trillanes' backchanneling efforts on the country's territorial disputes with China. — RSJ, GMA News
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