Senatorial candidates of PDP Laban on Saturday wooed voters of Calamba, Laguna, unanimously assuring a landslide win in the upcoming 12 May mid-term polls that would prevent Vice President Sara Duterte from being ousted from her post once the impeachment trial at the Senate begins in July.

“I am not trying to be a prophet here but I am assuring you that all of us nine candidates of PDP Laban would emerge victorious,” returning Senator Ronald Bato Dela Rosa guaranteed, adding that all of PDP candidates remain at the top-12 of various surveys.

He also hit social media users whom what he said have been emboldened to show off the use of illicit substances on live streams or blogs, implying that drug peddling and using have once again become rampant in the country after the tenure of former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte.

Before him, singer and known-Duterte ally, Atty. Jimmy Bondoc, urged voters not to allow 16 senator judges in the upcoming impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte to trample the 32 million votes that the young Duterte had reaped during the 2016 vice presidential race.

“If you will vote for us all, then we will be at the Senate to defend the Vice President from being impeached. Huwag nating hayaan na mabalewala ng Kongreso ang 32 milyong Pilipinong nagtiwala kay VP Sara,” according to Bondoc.

For the VP to be impeached, a two-thirds vote of the 24 elected Senators, who will become Senator Judges during the upcoming impeachment trial, is needed based on the Constitution.

A total of 240 members of the House of Representatives impeached the Vice President last month.

PhilHealth mess

For his part, Senator Christopher Lawrence Bong Go also urged the rally attendees to prioritize in voting some of his fellow candidates, namely Kingdom of Jesus Christ Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, Bondoc, Dela Rosa, lawyer Raul Lambino, actor Philip Salvador, lawyer Jayvee Hinlo, guest candidate SAGIP party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta, and former executive secretary Vic Rodriguez.

The lawmaker, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health once again hit the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), stating, “PhilHealth should serve our kababayans, and not make a business out of it.”

Go also bragged to the attendees about the 185 laws he sponsored and co-sponsored, including the passage of the Malasakit Center Act of 2019, forming Malasakit Centers in hospitals that have been helping impoverished patients, as well as the Super Health Centers and Regional Specialty Center.

The Malasakit Centers program has successfully helped more than 12 million Filipinos and established 166 Malasakit Centers nationwide, according to Go.

Meanwhile, movie personality “Ipe” Salvador vowed that if he wins, he will further push for programs that will assure the welfare of senior citizens in the country, adequate jobs for fellow Filipinos, quality and free education for students, among others.

“Gusto ko pong ibigay ang huling bugso ng aking buhay sa paglilingkod sa sambayanang Pilipino (I want to give the final years of my life in service to the Filipino people),” he exclaimed.

He also made a blow to the members of the House of Representatives Quadcom Committee for impeaching VP Sara and made her appear to be a thief, bellowing it is false, stating “Walang magnanakaw na Duterte (No Duterte is a thief).”

As he is currently detained at the Pasig City Jail for various charges, including sex crimes, Quiboloy was represented by social media influencer "Banat By" and his legal counsel Atty. Israelito Torreon, who blatantly hit the Marcos Jr. administration and his allegedly trolls for peddling fake news, among others.

Torreon, for his part, maintained that Quiboloy is innocent to all charges being thrown against him.

“Let us protect our votes as they made it appear that Pastor Quiboloy is Number 28 in the surveys. That is not true. Duterte candidates are the frontrunners,” Torreon said.