Running for senator without vast resources is an uphill battle. But the fight is never just about winning — it is about being heard.

The 90-day campaign period for national candidates for the May 2025 elections started on 11 February. Suddenly, fond memories of the 1992 and 2016 elections rushed in. In 1992, my father ran for senator under the administration ticket. In 2016 I followed suit as a senatorial candidate under the party of the late Ambassador Roy Señeres.

Prior to our respective attempts, my father was Adviser on Muslim Affairs to then Senator Raul S. Manglapus whom he subsequently followed to the Department of Foreign Affairs as Senior Foreign Affairs Adviser. Around this period, Secretary Manglapus, a Christian, and my father, a Muslim, conceived the idea of uniting the two religions in order to foster understanding and unity in diversity. This was the springboard for my father’s dive into national politics in 1992.

For those of us who believe we have something to offer our country, the need to be heard is hard to resist. It was unbelievable that my father, though an administration candidate, simply did not have the resources to mount a national campaign. Pure personal conviction sustained his campaign.

My case was different, crazy even. Relatively unknown, neither an administration candidate nor from a major party, the Comelec declared me a nuisance candidate. It was hard to accept, harder to defend before the Comelec.

Sitting on cold aluminum benches, the ambience in the Comelec during those hearings was a mix of anxiety and superficial bantering among the candidates. We were from different sectors of society who shared an unquestionable love of country and had our personal advocacies but we didn’t have sufficient campaign funds.

Fortunately, represented by my maternal aunt, a seasoned lawyer, and assisted by my brother, a new lawyer, I was ultimately declared not a nuisance candidate. Understanding the need for the Comelec to purge nuisance candidates, I used this to prove my intention to exercise my right and to bring forth my advocacy.

Our kind — candidates with no machinery — leverage our campaigns on the kindness of family, friends and the power of social media. In my campaign, I was accompanied either by my cousin, my mother, and even by my then seven-year-old daughter. They gave me much needed encouragement, especially when others said I was crazy for even attempting to run. In my father’s campaign and mine, it was a family affair with borrowed vehicles, donated posters, etc.

I can only admire those who love their country and choose to serve their people. One is Attorney Ernesto Arellano of the Katipunan Party, a lawyer and staunch labor leader who has won battles for Filipino workers and intends to take this to the Senate.

It would be commendable if the major slates field Muslim candidates together with broader sectoral representation. Everyone should have an equal opportunity to be heard even if armed only with ideals, determination and, most of all, love of country. That’s democracy at work.

Last January, the Supreme Court said that “requiring candidates to have the financial means to run a campaign would unfairly add a property requirement that the Constitution prohibits. Regardless of wealth, everyone has the right to run for office. A candidate cannot be disqualified simply because they are poor.”

At the end of the day, this goes beyond the votes and beyond the victory. It is about voicing out one’s beliefs with honor and sincerity and affirming one’s faith in our motherland.