MANILA — Individuals aspiring to grab a political seat in the 2025 elections are all looking at the October 1 to 8 filing of certificate of candidacy, with many also looking for political alliances to beef up their candidacies with campaign kitty and endorsements.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr's Partido Federal ng Pilipinas has already inked an alliance with Lakas-CMD of House Speaker Martin Romualdez; Nationalist People’s Coalition of former Senate President Vicente Sotto III; National Unity Party of former Cabinet Secretary Ronaldo Puno, and the Nacionalista Party of Sen. Cynthia Villar.

On the other side of the fence is the 25,000-member Akbayan Citizens Action Party, which is eyeing an alliance with the Katipunan ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino and the Liberal Party.

KNP, chaired by former senator Bam Aquino, at the “Kapihan sa Manila Prince Hotel” Wednesday shared the party’s intention to also tie up with the Magdalo Party.

He also clarified that KNP now stands as an “independent group,” saying present problems cannot be addressed by any one side.

“[W]ala naman pong purely good and purely bad. And this administration meron din namang nagawa na mabuti. meron ding kailangang palakasin pa,” Aquino explained.

(Nobody is purely good nor purely bad. And this administration also did good things, the same way that there are also things that need to be strengthened.) 

Aquino said the Marcos Jr administration’s stand on POGO (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators), West Philippine Sea and educational reforms are among the issues that they support.

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But supporting those stands no longer requires a formal alliance, he stressed.

“Ako, I prefer yung position natin na maging independent, kasi mas malaya kang makapagsalita," Aquino, who has been on both sides of the political aisle, said.

He said that those in the opposition might be compelled to criticize all government decisions while those in the administration might be too timid to dissent.

REALITIES OF POLITICAL ALLIANCES

In reality, according to Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero, political alliances are aimed to ensure that allied parties will field a “common candidate” and extend some support to their bets.

“Pag may alyansa ang isang partido, ibig sabihin nyan, hindi sila maglalaban-laban sa anumang puwesto. Ibig sabihin, iisa lang ang slate ng partido sa pagka-senador. Sa pagka-gobernador iisa lang din ang slate. Pero may exception yan, sona libre, free zone,” Escudero said who is a member of the Nationalist People’s Coalition.

(Party alliances mean that candidates will not fight over positions. Meaning, there will only be one slate for senator, governor. But there is an exception, which we call as free zone.)

He said that alliances are easy at the national level but get more complicated in local races.

But while many parties are rushing to be identified with a certain camp, Sen. Nancy Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance, or UNA, is not keen to join the fray due to the lack of party loyalty in the country.

“Dapat ding pag-aralan. Kasi, through the years, nalulusaw na rin yung konsepto ng partido. The mere fact na dito sa Senate ang dami nang tumatakbo as an independent and not aligned with any political party,” Binay, chairperson of UNA, said.

(We should also study this matter because all through the years, the political party concept is also beginning to get dissolved.)

RELATED: Tolentino leaves PDP, cites differences on preferred West Philippine Sea policy

GRADUATING SENATORS’ TIPS TO SENATE WANNABES

Like Binay, Sen. Grace Poe and Cynthia Villar are graduating — reaching their two-term limit — from the Senate next year.

Binay prefers to just let the people identify her contributions in the chamber in the past 12 years.

Poe meanwhile hopes that Filipinos will remember her as the daughter of Philippine movie’s action king Fernando Poe, Jr., who did everything to help the needy.

Villar on the other hand sees her legacy in the agriculture sector.

“I think yung aking nagawa for the farmers and fisherfolks, in agriculture. I guess that. And the protection of the environment, like the Las Pinas-Parañaque Wetland Park... that I have worked hard to help the farmers and fisherfolks,” Villar said.

And for those who are attempting to make their first crack in the Senate, Binay and Poe give their piece of advice.

“Bagama’t maraming hamon at hindi madali, at napakaraming kontrobersiya... isang malaking pribilehiyo talaga at pagkakataon na huwag nating kalimutan. Sapagkat lahat naman tayo may gustong gawin para sa ating bansa nan makakabuti. Pero dito sa katungkulan ko na ito, kahit hindi ganun kabilis, ay napapatupad kung talagang tututukan mo,” Poe said.

(While there are so many challenges, the job is not that easy. There are so many controversies... but it’s a big privilege, a chance that we should not forget. All of us want to do something good for our country. But this job, although quite slow, you can also achieve something if you really focus on your goal.)

“Ang layo nito from the Executive. Yung trabaho ng senador talagang maga-aral ka, magbabasa ka. Hindi tayo taga-execute ng batas. Ang trabaho talaga eh to craft yung batas,” Binay pointed out.

(This job is far from the Executive. You have to study if you want to become a senator. You have to read. We do not execute the law, our job is to craft the law.)

Villar is eyeing to run for a local post in Las Piñas City.

Binay on the other hand is considering running for mayor of Makati City.

Poe said that she wants to focus on building a museum for her parents – FPJ and movie queen Susan Roces. She said, thoughm that she is open to taking up a government post if needed.