UNA keeps 9 senatorial bets

ONLY nine individuals will comprise the senatorial ticket of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) after it rejected the possibility of recruiting people who will fill in the slots taken from its guest candidates.

UNA has withdrawn its support to Senators Loren Legarda and Francis Escudero and Grace Poe-Llamanzares for continuously snubbing sorties because of their commitment to the administration-backed Team PNoy.

Soon after the announcement on Thursday, the names of religious group leader Bro. Eddie Villanueva, Puerto Princesa City Mayor Edward Hagedorn and Bayan Muna Representative Teddy Casiño have been floated as potential candidates who will complete the 12-man line up.

“But UNA has not officially made and will not make an offer for them to join us as guest candidates. We have no plans of replacing the three former guest candidates,” said UNA secretary general Toby Tiangco on Friday.

He said dropping Legarda, Escudero and Poe was not just to free themselves from the obligation to campaign for them but also to move on from the issue of common candidates.

“We will focus on our nine UNA candidates,” said Tiangco, despite a pronouncement from UNA leader former President Joseph Estrada that he will still campaign for his goddaughter Poe.

UNA’s candidates are Nancy Binay, former Tarlac Governor Margarita Cojuangco, San Juan Representative JV Ejercito, Cagayan Representative Jack Enrile, former Senator Richard Gordon, Senator Gregorio Honasan II, former Senator Ernesto Maceda, Zambales Representative Mitos Magsaysay, and former Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri.

The coalition capped its three-province sortie this week in Bataan, home to over 450,000 registered voters for the May 13 midterm elections. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)