Villanueva eyes Senate reelection but open to other elective posts in Eleksyon 2022

Senator Joel Villanueva on Thursday said he is considering running for his second Senate term in next year's elections but also to other elective posts.

“Yes, ‘yun ang plano ngayon. Siyempre, we don’t want to close doors [to other posts]. Ang filing [ng Certificate of Candidacy} naman is October pa,” Villanueva said in an ANC interview when asked if he will run for reelection in the Senate.

(That is the plan but we don't want to close doors to other positions. The filing of the COC is scheduled in October.)

For the May 2022 elections, Villanueva said he is allowed to run for any posts, including higher and local posts. He said there are calls for him to run for governor of Bulacan, their bailiwick.

“I’m here in Bulacan right now and some leaders were asking me to run for governor and I was surprised,” Villanueva said.

“Open naman tayo sa lahat but for now, the plan is to run for reelection [We are open to any posts but for now, the plan is to run for reelection].”

Villanueva also disclosed that he, along with other reelectionist senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Juan Miguel Zubiri, agreed to campaign together in 2022.

The so-called “Seatmates” bloc will also include former Senator JV Ejercito in their campaign should the latter decide to seek a Senate comeback.

In a previous interview, Ejercito said he will announce his 2022 plans in October.

Villanueva further disclosed that they already held discussions with the Nationalist People’s Coalition, the camps of Senator Manny Pacquiao and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno.

Pacquiao and Moreno are among the names of possible presidential candidates in the 2022 elections.

Moreover, the senator said they are open to coalesce and be adopted by other big political parties in the 2022 election campaign.

Villanueva won his first term in the Senate in 2016 where he ran under Liberal Party. He was second most voted senatorial candidate in 2016, garnering 18,459,222 votes.

Under the 1987 Constitution, a senator’s term of office runs for six years and they are only allowed to run for two consecutive terms. —KBK, GMA News