Sotto believes senators’ Eleksyon 2022 campaign won’t affect Senate work

Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Monday vouched for his colleagues’ discipline at work, saying these “statesmen” will prioritize their duties as legislators even during the campaign season for the 2022 national and local elections.

“I don’t think [the campaign will affect our work]. Kung meron man (If there’s any that would be) very minimal because most of the senators act like statesmen and they know what their job is,” Sotto said in a virtual interview.

“You have no business being in the Senate kung puro pulitika lang ang nasa utak mo (if all you think about is politics),” he added.

Sotto also believed the filing of certificates of candidacy in October won’t derail the passage of priority bills especially the 2022 national budget.

“I’m not really concerned about the timetable of the filing of the Certificate of Candidacy. We have to work first,” he said.

“The best way to campaign is to work hard. Hindi ba (right)? So it doesn’t matter really. What matters is that before we receive the budget as much as possible all the bills that are important should be passed already,” he added.

Nine senators have so far expressed their intent to run for various positions in Eleksyon 2022.

Senator Panfilo Lacson and Sotto have already announced their presidential and vice presidential run, respectively, for the upcoming polls.

Senator Manny Pacquiao has yet to announce his final decision for Eleksyon 2022 but he is one of the politicians who is also reportedly eyeing the presidency.

Apart from Pacquiao, Senator Richard Gordon earlier said he is considering running for president again in the next polls

Meanwhile, Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Senator Joel Villanueva may run again for the Senate but they said they are keeping their doors open for other elective posts.

The senators who already announced their reelection bids are:

• Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri
• Senator Leila De Lima
• Senator Risa Hontiveros
• Senator Francis Pangilinan

For the 2022 national and local elections, the Commission on Elections has scheduled the filing of Certificate of Candidacy from October 1 to 8, 2021.

The campaign period for politicians seeking national posts is set from February 8 to May 7, 2022.

Meanwhile, the campaign period for local elective posts’ candidates is set from March 25 to May 7, 2022.

The next elections will be held on May 9, 2022. — RSJ, GMA News