Herbert Bautista seeks Senate seat in 2022

MANILA, Philippines —- Former Quezon City mayor and actor Herbert Bautista on Wednesday threw his hat to join the Senate race in the 2022 elections as he filed his certificate of candidacy. 

The three-term mayor of the country's most populous city will make his first bid for a national position. He was a local chief executive from 2010 and won reelections in 2013 and 2016. 

His vice mayor then, Joy Belmonte, succeeded him in 2019 to QC's top post and is also seeking another term.

Bautista, known in Philippine showbiz as "Bistek," is running under the Nationalist People's Coalition.

He is part of the slate to the upper chamber of Sen. Panfilo Lacson and Senate President Vicente Sotto III, who also filed their COCs today for president and vice president, respectively. 

The aspirant, however, did not say what his programs would be if he was elected. Instead, Bautista only thanked his former constituents.

"I learned a lot from you," he said in Filipino. "I hope you will help me in this new chapter of my life to help more, not only Quezon City, but the whole country."

Bautista began his political career in 1986 as president of the Kabataang Barangay National Federation. 

In 1995, he was elected vice mayor of QC, serving under Mel Mathay until 1998 and under Feliciano Belmonte Jr. from 2001 to 2010. — Christian Deiparine

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Disclosure: Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte is a shareholder of Philstar Global Corp., which operates digital news outlet Philstar.com. This article was produced following editorial guidelines.