FORMER Vice-President Maria Leonor G. Robredo has endorsed the Senate candidacy of ex-Interior Secretary Benjamin C. Abalos, Jr. and former Senator Emmanuel D. Pacquiao, who are among the candidates endorsed by the Marcos administration.
The former vice-president backed Mr. Abalos’ Senate bid on Wednesday, she said in a statement released on Thursday.
“Let’s support him in his candidacy. We will vote for him in his bid for the Senate,” Ms. Robredo was quoted as saying. “If he becomes senator, he will surely help us, so we should also help him.”
An opposition figure during ex-President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s administration, Ms. Robredo mounted a presidential campaign in 2022 with strong grassroots support but finished second to now-President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. She commanded 15 million votes that year.
Ms. Robredo’s endorsement also comes as Mr. Abalos struggles to break into the so-called “Magic 12” in election surveys, facing an uphill battle in an election where only a dozen candidates would be elected in the Senate.
Ms. Robredo also endorsed administration bet Mr. Pacquiao on Wednesday, calling him kind and trustworthy.
“All these recent endorsements will expose fragmentations inside the liberal and Marcos camps,” Anthony Lawrence A. Borja, an associate political science professor, said in a Facebook Messenger chat.
“We may see a split between liberal hardliners who will not comply with her endorsement and might even envision the future of liberal opposition without her, and softliners who might be open to reciprocal endorsement between the Marcos and liberal camps,” he added.
Supporters of the Marcos administration may see Ms. Robredo’s move as political opportunism, said Mr. Borja. “There will be those who would see this as petty opportunism.”
Hansley A. Juliano, who teaches political science at the Ateneo de Manila University, said the endorsement will negatively reflect on Ms. Robredo, noting the issues she and Mr. Abalos stand for do not align.
“I’m sure there are hard-line loyalists of Robredo who may stick with this, but considering the liberal vote tends to follow market trends, I doubt this buffs Abalos’ performance any more than it already does,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat.
“The former supporters of Robredo are already interpreting her as playing trapo as it is, it might be seen as a misstep for her if she ever plans on returning to national politics again.” — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
