Senate bets Casiño, Colmenares, Hilbay, Padilla, Roleda bare platforms on 'Kandidato'

Before shading circles next to their names in the May 2019 ballots, voters can get to know their candidates a little better on GMA News TV's Investigative Documentaries: Kandidato series.

Senatorial hopefuls Toti Casiño, Neri Colmenares, Florin Hilbay, Dado Padilla, and Dan Roleda bared their platforms on the February 26 episode aired this week.

Casino: From IT to the Senate

Former Philippine Computer Society (PCS) president “Edmundo “Toti” Casino has worked as an IT professor as well as a television and radio personality after finishing an economics degree from Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of the Philippines (UP).

The tech expert now running for senator under Katipunan ng Demokratikong Pilipino (KDP) said he wants to, among others, fix problems in the electoral system, push for renewable energy, and serve justice over the billion-peso Dengvaxia controversy.

The candidate also opened up about taking on the campaign even after his wife succumbed to multiple sclerosis just last year, leaving him with no children.

Colmenares: I’m not a communist

Former Bayan Muna party-list Representative Neri Colmenares’ fight for labor rights and higher pension is far from over, and he hopes to take the battle to the Senate.

This is the second senatorial run for the three-term congressman, human rights lawyer, lecturer and activist under Makabayang Koalisyon ng Mamamayan (Makabayan). He lost in 2016.

During his interview, Colmenares cried foul over being tagged as a communist and lamented the “red tagging” of leftists. He also shared what his first impressions were of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Hilbay's rags to riches story

Giving us a glimpse of his childhood in Tondo as a house helper’s son, former Solicitor General and lawyer Florin “Pilo” Hilbay hopes his work as a public servant opens a door to the Senate just as his education did to many opportunities.

He was a UP iskolar ng bayan, Yale graduate, constitutional law professor, and number one ‘99 Bar exams topnotcher who took part in winning the West Philippine Sea case against China at the Hague. If he wins, he plans to focus on matters of social welfare, education, foreign relations, and budget.

The Otso Diretso candidate also took the hot seat over a 2016 Commission on Audit (COA) report saying he got P4.6 million worth of “excess allowances” before leaving the Solicitor General post during the Aquino administration.

Padilla on corruption at TESDA

Lawyer Diosdado “Dado” Padilla who hails from San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija finished his law degree at the Araullo University, passed the 1988 Bar exams and became president of his local Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) chapter from 2003 to 2005.

If given the chance, the aspirant running under Partido Federal ng Pilipinas said he would like to push for poverty alleviation as senator.

But having left his post as Deputy Director General for the Communities and Local Government Unit Services (CLGUS) of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) last year, Padilla shared his thoughts on a corruption issue involving P15 million that the agency spent on “ghost scholars.”

What made Binay ally Roleda go for Senate

Lawyer Dan Roleda is a long-time friend of the Binay family and is the current secretary general of the Binay-led United Nationalist Alliance. At the University of Sto. Tomas, he finished an economics degree before taking up law.

The senatorial candidate hailing from Calbayog City, Samar has served as a councilor of Manila from 1992 until 1998 and was foreign investment adviser to former President and current House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

As he vows to address problems in education, housing, health and labor as a member of Congress, Roleda got the chance to discuss his family life, political mindset, and what he had to consider before deciding to run for office, including the family business.

—Margaret Claire Layug/NB/LDF/KG, GMA News