00:00I am pleased to be here, glad to be able to join you this afternoon, and I have only one
00:27purpose in this afternoon's press briefing. I am endorsing fully and asking for your help,
00:43virtually, to help Iko, Pangilinan, and Balma. Members of the press, I was in the Senate
00:54for 24 years. If there are people qualified to be in the Senate, it is Iko and Balma.
01:03I have worked with the two of them, but before I go into that, let me tell you some personal
01:10experiences I had. Iko, Pangilinan, let me tell you, this happened when we were working
01:19on the candidacy of Lenny Roberto. I was offered the Vice Presidency by Lenny. I was not prepared.
01:32I nominated Iko. And at the time, Iko had a good chance of winning the Senate seat.
01:43But Iko believes in good governance. Iko believes in good leadership. But we thought Iko would
01:54only be a placeholder. And after a while, that he would give way to a more permanent candidate
02:05for Vice President. And this is a personal experience. That was our understanding, that we would
02:13first nominate Iko, and then afterwards, when we have another candidate, we can substitute Iko.
02:22But Iko, I take my hat off to him. At a certain point, he said, Boss, let's continue the fight.
02:32Nakapuna ako kahit na may laban ako sa Senado, I will run as Vice President because I believe
02:40in good governance. And that is the kind of person Iko Pangilinan is. He was a member
02:47of the Pinoy cabinet. Wala kapo na kapatid, gabi siya nagawad, siya sabi, saka sapo mabugas
02:54sa kanyang Iko. He was running the National Code of Conduct. Kag sa kadugay, sa akong
03:01sa gobyerno, mabalaan ko dara ang kumisyong, sa importasyon, sa bukasin. But I have not
03:10heard anything about Iko being involved in any anomaly. And indeed, his sense of loyalty,
03:23his sense of believing in principles of good governance, made him sacrifice. He slapped
03:31in the Senate at that time. And continued to run as the Vice President of the Navy,
03:39with in fact, nakalaban ni Chaco Balacar, but he was loyal to the cause of good governance.
03:47That is why he continued the quest for Vice President, not to stand in the eyes. And that
03:56is why it is my full admiration that I supported and campaigned for Iko at that time, and I
04:03continue to support him today. I just hope to convince more of our Kapabayan, our Ilongos,
04:11that Iko deserves to be returned to the Senate. So that is what I am asking our Kasibanu as
04:19well. Trust me, I have been in the Senate, and if there are two competent people who
04:25deserve to be in the Senate, it is Iko and Bawin. And Bawin, I am asking all of you,
04:33to help him win in the Senate. You know, I was their campaign manager of the ticket
04:41in 2013. In 2013, I was their campaign manager. And Bawin won in that campaign. Let me tell
04:54you a secret. His wife was a better speaker than me. In fact, I was saying, we will not
05:02survive if we don't have a wife. But anyway, that's right. But when he became the Senator,
05:09as a freshman Senator, as a unified Senator, he tackled the most difficult bills that we
05:16could take up in the Senate. The Competition Act, my goodness gracious. Ako hindi ko na
05:22hindihan, but si BAM nag-aaral, siya ang nagtuon sa mabudlay na layi, at siya ang nagpipitinin
05:31para sa maging layi itong competition mo. Of course, mabudlay hindi ipaliwanag sa atin
05:39ka si Manuel, but he created a better business environment for our country which enabled
05:47us to generate more employment opportunities. Number two, you know, ako hindi pa ngayon
05:56sa inyong kader. Dago ang utang ko sa kina-family. Sa upisa ako kapag ka-Secretary of Labor,
06:06kapag ka-Justice Secretary, Executive Secretary, bangun. I was a Senator and Senate President
06:17because of Pinoy. And mainly most of the improvements and progress that I've brought here is because
06:30of the support of Pinoy and Koli. So baka po ang ako niyang utang sa kina-family.
06:39Pag-ayaw ko sa inyo, may ganyuan kong babayaran ang ako ng utang sa kina-family by voting for BAM
06:48at Kino and returning him to the Senate. So sa ako, why na si Ivana qualified? They can stand 2-2 with anyone
07:01in this field. They can stand 2-2 to compare how they have performed in the past to be entitled
07:09to be in support. So that is why ako hindi pa ngayon sa atin mga Kasimanuwa. Burin lang natin
07:16ang mga... hindi lang ang mga artista, hindi ang... walang wapo, walang marawi, hindi. Artista
07:23hindi walang... artista akin lang. So my dear friends, mga Kasimanuwa, I will campaign hard for these 2 people
07:35here in the city and probably also in Kino. And we'll all be long-speaking with you because I feel
07:42that Pico and BAM are most qualified for your support. They're most qualified for us Filipinos
07:51to be proud that we're local people and BAM in the Senate. Thank you very much.
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