Janette Garin
鈥擨NQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� Whoever released an information that the administration has finalized its Senate slate for the 2025 midterm polls must have been fed the wrong information, Deputy Majority Leader and Iloilo 1st District Rep. Janette Garin said.
Garin, in a press briefing at the Batasang Pambansa on Wednesday, echoed the statements of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) calling a reported 12-person Senate slate as unofficial.
鈥淏ased on our understanding, the talks have not been finalized.听 Yes, there were discussions among political party leaders and names were recommended and put forward, but this is just the first step,鈥� Garin, who is from political party Lakas-CMD, said.
鈥淭he next step will be consultations among members, officers of various political parties and the decision will rest on what the majority believes and, of course, the clearance from our President and leaders of political parties,鈥� she added.
Lakas-CMD, headed by Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, is one of the four parties that have formally aligned with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.鈥檚 PFP.
According to Garin, the person who leaked that information may have been 鈥渆lectrocuted鈥� or 鈥渘akuryente鈥� 鈥� a term in media where wrong information is fed to reporters.
鈥淚n other words, baka kuryente yung lumabas kasi sa pagkakaalam namin ay wala namang final pa na napag-usapan,鈥� Garin stressed.
(In other words, she might have been electrocuted because as far as we know nothing final has been discussed.)
PFP president and South Cotabato Governor Reynaldo Tamayo, Jr. previously said that the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas still does not have an official line-up.
READ: No official 2025 admin Senate slate yet 鈥� PFP听
In a statement on Tuesday night, Tamayo said that different parties aligned with the PFP were only asked to submit their Senate bets from within their groups during the meeting at Malaca帽ang.
The PFP official said the official line-up would only be named come September 15.
Tamayo did not specify what report showed a 12-person slate, but reports from different media outfits showed Senator Imee Marcos name-dropping the administration鈥檚 supposed Magic 12 for the 2025 midterm elections.
Marcos said this was supposedly the topic of a meeting in Malaca帽ang last Monday night.
READ: 鈥楿nity pa rin鈥�: Party leaders meet at Malaca帽ang for 2025 strategy听
Camarines Sur 2nd District Rep. LRay Villafuerte also named seven members of the groups within the alliance, but he said this will still be up for the approval and consensus of all political parties.
Villafuerte heads the National Unity Party (NUP), while Senator Marcos hails from the Nacionalista Party (NP) 鈥� two groups that signed agreements with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.鈥檚 PFP.
READ: 7 members of groups in Bagong Pilipinas alliance eyed as Senate bets
Aside from these and Lakas CMD, PFP also signed a coalition agreement with the Nationalist People鈥檚 Coalition (NPC) headed by former Senate president Vicente Sotto III.
The seven names being floated, according to Villafuerte, are the following:
- former Senate President Sotto (NPC)
- Deputy Speaker Camille Villar (NP)
- Senator Ramon 鈥淏ong鈥� Revilla (Lakas-CMD)
- Senator Marcos (NP)
- Senator Pia Cayetano (NP)
- Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. (PFP)
- Senator Francis Tolentino (PFP)
鈥� With reports from Arianne Denisse Cagsawa, trainee