Bam attributes victory to family name

MANILA, Philippines - What’s in a name? A lot, and it can win you an election.

Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV believes his family name played a huge role in his surge to seventh place in the senatorial election.

Speaking to reporters yesterday at Team PNoy headquarters in Makati, Aquino said he was not ashamed that he campaigned on the strength of the Aquino name, starting with his uncle, Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., his aunt, the late former President Corazon Aquino and his cousin, President Aquino.

“From the start, it was clear that family was very important to us,” he said.

“If you look at all of our ads, we talk about why we’re running, the inspiration of running and being in public service. So that was important.”

Aquino said having relatives in politics does not put pressure on him.

“They’re an inspiration, they’re a guiding light,” he said.

“I hope that I would be able to replicate what they were able to do before. But we have our own way of doing things. I had a different experience and background, and I hope that I am able to serve the country like my other relatives.”

Aquino said he would like to emulate his Tito Ninoy’s courage, which made him popular when he was a senator.

“He was the youngest and the most courageous during his time,” he said. “I hope I would be like that too.”

Aquino said he represents the youth, the biggest sector in the country now.

“You cannot ignore this sector and I’m hoping as the youngest one in the Senate, it will be both my burden and responsibility to make sure that the concerns of the youth would be heard in the Senate,” he said.

At 36, Aquino would be the youngest member of the 16th Congress.

‘Running scared’

Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara said that he was always “running scared” throughout the 90-day campaign because his standing in the surveys was not consistent.

“We were in the eighth to 13th bracket. Sometimes less than one percentage point (separated us),” he said.

“Every time the surveys come out, we try to work harder. There was no confidence till the last day of campaign. Our philosophy was to be running scared all the time, no regrets till the end.”

As of yesterday, Angara was in sixth place in the canvassing of votes and his ranking has remained steady for two days.

Angara said the command votes from the religious groups, some influential personalities, organized labor   and local kingpins gave him the edge he needed on election day.

“We were able to get a lot of command votes,” he said. “We finished well in the last 10 days of the campaign.”

Angara said celebrities helped him get the exposure he needed with the masses, particularly those who were not so interested in politics.

His father, Sen. Edgardo Angara, worked on the sidelines to help him, he added.

Angara said his father’s advice has always been the same since the first time he decided to run for Congress: “Do your homework.”

“He’s known for being one of the hardest working legislators,” the younger Angara said.