As the Philippines kicked off its campaign season last March for the May 9 Presidential elections, there were five presidential aspirants who became the "talk of the town" as the next successor to former President Rodrigo Duterte.
In this article, the DZRH News Online looks back to the "thrilling" moments during the campaign before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took the seat as the Philippines' new leader.
Presidential Aspirants
Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
The namesake of the late dictator, Marcos, 64, was a former governor, congressman, and senator who topped the opinion pools.
Known as "Bongbong", Marcos Jr. chose Sara Duterte-Caprio, the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, as his vice president.
Marcos had been famous to the youth who were born after his father's dictatorship, claiming to offer a united brand of leadership.
Leni Robredo
Former Vice President Leni Robredo was the only female presidential aspirant.
She was a former human rights lawyer, who served as Duterte's housing minister but stepped down after being excluded from cabinet meetings and has become one of his staunchest critics.
Robredo vowed to transparent governance that cares for the people to strengthen the medical system.
Her running mate was Francis Pangilinan, a lawyer, and senator.
Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso
Better known by his screen name Isko Moreno, he was elected to the city council in 1998 and served as vice mayor of Manila for three terms before running unsuccessfully for senator. In 2019, he was elected mayor of Manila, defeating the incumbent and deposed former President Joseph Estrada.
Domagoso has promised a zero-tolerance policy toward Chinese maritime aggression in the South China Sea, and his economic agenda is focused on housing, labor, health, and infrastructure.
Domagoso has named Willie Ong as his running mate, a doctor with 16 million followers on Facebook.
Manny Pacquiao
Boxing icon Manny Pacquiao vowed to jail corrupt officials and criticized Duterte's close relationship with China.
He was a senator who previously served two terms in Congress and is currently tied in the polls with Domagoso.
He has promised to improve healthcare, eliminate corruption, boost economic growth, and provide housing for the poor.
Jose Atienza, a congressman, and former environment minister is his running mate.
Panfilo Lacson
Former senator Panfilo Lacson, 73, was in last place in most polls. In 2004, he unsuccessfully ran for president.
Former national police head Lacson spent more than a year on the run in 2010 after being accused of planning the slayings of a publicist and his driver two decades earlier. Later on, the Supreme Court exonerated him.
The removal of dishonest government employees, investments in healthcare, and assistance for small companies are all promises made by Lacson.
Vicente Sotto, the senate president, and a former comedian was Lacson's running mate.
Campaign amid pandemic
OCTA Research fellow Ranjit Rye encouraged the candidates of the May elections to still follow the health and safety protocols for those who attended the rallies and other political events amid the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an interview with DZRH, Rye said that campaign rallies and other events might cause upticks or mini surges in COVID-19 cases.
He urged candidates to provide free masks when attending activities related to rallies.
Marcos vs. Robredo
During the course of the campaign, former Vice President Leni Robredo's eldest daughter, Aika, was reported to have been embroiled in an alleged sex video that circulated online.
Robredo told reporters that the misleading social media posts against her family and fake pornographic content of her daughter came from the Marcos camp.
According to the former vice president, it wasn't new to her as Marcos Jr. has been consistently doing the same strategy since 2016.
Robredo slammed her opponent's campaign regarding fake news, reflecting their governance of lack of good about themselves.
She added that the people around Marcos are the same people who are disinformation peddlers.
On the other hand, Marcos Jr.'s camp fired back at the accusation behind the smear campaign against one of the former vice president's daughters.
Spokesperson Vic Rodriguez slammed the accusation, emphasizing that the campaign for Marcos Jr. was anchored with unity.
According to Rodriguez, they plan to continue being true to the Marcos campaign and his "call for unity anchored on the strengths and merits of his vision and platform."
One-on-one debate challenge
With the heated rivalry between Robredo and Marcos, a one-on-one debate challenge happened as former Vice President Leni Robredo called out his opponent, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for a debate.
Robredo challenged Marcos so the people can have the opportunity to face and ask him questions about the controversies surrounding him.
On the other hand, the boxer-turned-senator Manny Pacquiao challenged election rival Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in a debate so the latter can provide his platforms for Filipinos.
According to him, if Marcos was shy to face debates due to the many participants, it would be fine for him to have a one-on-one debate instead.
The challenge came after Marcos criticized other presidential candidates' platforms for not being well thought-out, and the latter skipped the presidential debate that the Commission on Elections organized.
Moreno challenged Robredo to withdraw; Robredo dismissed his tirade
In the middle of the campaign season, Isko Moreno challenged former Vice President Leni Robredo to pull out of the presidential race.
He made the remarks, claiming that he received encouragement from Robredo's side to pull out of the presidential race, along with other presidential candidates.
For Moreno, Robredo's fight was only to get revenge against the Marcoses and not for the Filipinos.
Moreno reiterated his intention to remain in the presidential run alongside fellow contenders Panfilo Lacson and Norberto Gonzales.
They vowed to make sure that Filipinos will have more options than just Robredo and the election front-runner Ferdinand Marcos Jr. by continuing their presidential campaigns.
However, Robredo did not back off and dismissed Moreno's tirade.
According to her, there was a bigger fight that she needed to win and she did not want to spend more time fighting against other candidates.
Lacson denied participation on Moreno's call for ex-VP Robredo to withdraw
Former senator Panfilo Lacson, also an opponent to former Vice President Robredo for the presidential race, clarified that his camp was never a part of calling out Robredo to withdraw from the presidential race.
He issued a statement, saying that they were not asking anyone to withdraw and they didn't want them to call for their withdrawal in the same manner.
In agreement with Lacson, Sotto, who was also there at the occasion, stated that the Manila mayor had stated that his call for Robredo to resign was based only on his own view.
Presidential Job Interview
DESISYON 2022: Bakit Ikaw?
"Bakit Ikaw" is a thorough interview where candidates, in this case, presidentiables, have the chance to disclose their strategies for addressing the country's long-standing internal, regional, and global problems.
Expanding access to the public healthcare system, preparing for disasters and minimizing their effects, eliminating corruption and inefficiencies in government operations, upholding peace and order, and maximizing the country's capacity to use scientific and technological advancements to better the lives of the Filipino people are a few of these challenges.
DZRH has invited all presidential candidates to participate in the "Bakit Ikaw" personal job interview, which will be broadcast over all DZRH digital and traditional media platforms.
Isko Moreno skipped DZRH's Bakit Ikaw?
Former Manila Mayor Isko Moreno revealed that he begged off from DZRH's "Bakit Ikaw? The Presidential Job Interview" due to the current station manager, Cesar Chavez, serving as his chief of staff before he returned to radio.
According to Moreno, he skipped the interview so people could not say anything against Chavez on account of "delicadeza."
He noted that he already advised Chavez about his decision to skip the interview through a text message.
Despite not being able to attend the interview segment of DZRH, Moreno has already appeared in the presidential interview of GMA News hosted by Jessica Soho, alongside rivals former Vice President Leni Robredo and former Senator Panfilo Lacson, and Manny Pacquiao.
