Robin Padilla shares stage — but maybe not slate — with Marcos-Duterte senatorial bets
ILOCOS NORTE, Philippines (Updated 9:32 a.m.) — Actor Robin Padilla — a vocal supporter of the Duterte administration — is part of the team of presidential aspirant Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio but it remains unclear whether he is actually part of the UniTeam’s ticket.
In the Ilocos Norte proclamation rally held late Wednesday at the Paoay Sand Dunes, Duterte said the UniTeam’s 12-member senatorial slate was complete with the inclusion of Padilla, who is eligible to run after being given an absolute pardon in 2016 for a 1994 conviction for illegal possession of firearms.
"Una po sa mga kasamahan naming sa UniTeam, 12 na po kami ngayong araw na ito (First of all, to those with us in the UniTeam, there are now 12 of us tonight)," she said before reciting the names of the 11 confirmed members of their ticket and Padilla.
But when Marcos went on stage, he said Padilla is not quite yet part of the UniTeam Senate ticket. He said: "Kahit di po namin kasama sa lineup ng mga senador ay matagal na po nating kaibigan yan."
(Even if he is not part of our lineup for senators, he is a longtime friend)
"At kaya naman kahit hindi siya technically naisama ay ‘pag ka andyan sya, meron siyang panahon ay sinasama namin," he added.
(And so even if he is not technically included, if he is there because he has time to attend, we include him)
In an ambush interview with reporters after the event, Marcos again clarified: "Actually, he's not in the 12 but he's part of the team."
Even Marcos’ campaign manager Benhur Abalos Jr., could not say what Padilla's role is and chose to stick with his principal’s statement. "We still have to check that you’ve heard what BBM has said di ba he’s our friend that’s what we said so let’s just take it from his speech awhile ago," he added.
Reporters were not able to verify it with Duterte-Carpio after the event.
Muslim candidate
Less than an hour after Duterte’s announcement, Padilla was introduced as "'Tol sa Senado” (Bro at the Senate) and got on stage to sing Eric Clapton’s "Wonderful Tonight."
Addressing the crowd, Padilla thanked Marcos and Duterte. He also said that he has devoted his life to President Duterte in the six years since he was granted executive clemency.
"Mga kababaayan kong Ilocano, nasabi na po nila ang lahat ng magagandang bagay at yun po ay susundan ko kung ako’y papalarin," Padilla said.
(My Ilocano countrymen, they have already said all the good things and those are what I'll continue if I am electerd to the Senate)
He lamented that the Senate does not have a Muslim member and that he could be one. "Gusto ko pong malaman inyo magmula po nung 1995, wala na pong naging Muslim na senador," he said.
(There has not been a Muslim senator since 1995)
Also running for senator but in the slate of Manila Mayor Isko Moreno is Samira Gutoc, a former member of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission and the Regional Legislative Assembly of the now defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao before that.
Gutoc, a Maranao from Marawi City, established the Ranao Rescue Team, a volunteer group for people displaced by the siege of the city by terrorists in 2017.
As a student, Gutoc led the UP Muslim Students Association and the Metro Manila-wide Muslim Youth and Students Alliance.
She resigned from the BTC in 2017 over the declaration of martial law in Mindanao in response to the Marawi siege and over Duterte's remarks that he would take the blame for soldiers who commit rape during the martial law period.
Padilla hails 1976 Tripoli Agreement
Padilla also hailed the 1976 Tripoli Agreement, signed during the time of former President Ferdinand Marcos, as a "great agreement."
According to the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, the 1976 deal between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front collapsed in 1977 after Marcos "unilaterally created the autonomous regions in Mindanao."
By 1979, OPAPP said, "Misuari reverted to his former goal of secession and renewed efforts to convince Islamic states but to no avail." Fighting between the government and the MNLF continued until 1996 when a final peace agreement was signed.
The agreement is part of several peace processes with rebel groups rooted in the Muslim separatist movement that gained traction after the 1968 Jabidah Massacre. Among the Muslim activists who turned to separatism because of Jabidah and other killings was MNLF founding chairman Nur Misuari.
In a 2016 editorial issued months before the remains of the dictator Marcos were buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front — a separate group that has also since signed a peace agreement with the government — wrote that "Moros suffered the most numbers of killed or victims during the height of Martial Law, in particular those victims of massacres.
"This is not to include the thousands upon thousands of hectares of Moro and other indigenous peoples' ancestral lands in Mindanao given to migrants or outsiders," the editorial on Luwaran.net reads.
Padilla also unsure if really on UniTeam slate
In another ambush interview with reporters after the event, Padilla said he was also unsure whether he is actually part of the UniTeam ticket.
"Hindi ko po alam kung confirmed yun. Wala pa pong pormal na usapan. Kasi po yung sa'min ni Ma'am Sara, ano po yun eh, talaga ako’y nasa ilalim, nasa ilalim talaga ako ni Ma'am Sara," he told reporters.
(I cannot say if that is already confirmed, there is no formal agreement yet. But as for Ma'am Sara, well, I am really under... I am really under her.)
Padilla is one of the six "friends" Mayor Duterte mentioned in their grand proclamation rally at Philippine Arena earlier on February 8.
So far, the confirmed members UniTeam slate are:
• Former Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista
• Former Sen. Jinggoy Estrada
• Suspended lawyer Larry Gadon
• Re-electionist Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian
• Former Information and Communications Secretary Gringo Honasan
• Rep. Loren Legarda (Antique)
• Deputy House Speaker Rodante Marcoleta
• Former presidential Harry Roque
• Former Defense Secretary Gibo Teodoro
• Former Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar
• Majority Floor Leader Miguel Zubiri
Of those on the slate, only Honasan and Marcoleta did not join in the Ilocos Norte proclamation rally.
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