Marcos-led party adopts singer, retired cop for 2010 polls

The Marcos-led Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) on Monday told the Commission on Elections (Comelec) that it will be adopting disqualified senatorial hopefuls Romeo Maganto and Anthony Castelo as guest candidates so that they will be allowed to run in the 2010 elections. “[They] should be allowed to complete the KBL line-up," KBL chairman and president Vicente Millora told the poll body commissioners during the hearing of nuisance candidates at the Comelec main office in Intramuros, Manila. Millora said the submission of the KBL endorsement, although late, should be enough to justify the candidacy of Maganto and Castelo. “Lateness should not affect [their] candidacy," he said. Both Maganto and Castelo were excluded from the initial list of approved 2010 candidates after the two failed to prove that they are capable of launching a nationwide campaign.

Maganto, a retired police general, filed his certificate of candidacy as an independent last November 25. He justified his being independent by saying that he didn’t want to create a rift between him and his friends in both the administration and the opposition. “I have a lot of friends in the administration and the opposition, so para walang samaan ng loob (so that there would be no ill feelings), I decided to run as an independent," he said. He claimed to have millions of supporters all over the country. Castelo, on the other hand, filed his COC last November 30. A singer, he is known for the songs Balatkayo and Dakilang Lahi. Aside from Maganto and Castelo, KBL will be fielding six senatorial candidates, including Shariff Ibrahim H. Albani, Alma A. Lood, Regalado E. Maambong, Ma. Judea G. Millora, Imelda A. Papin, and Hector L. Villanueva – all of whom were included in the initial list of approved candidates. KBL does not have a presidential candidate, but Jose “Jay" Y. Sonza, a broadcaster, will be running as its vice presidential bet. The Comelec said that it still needs time to process the oppositions filed against the exclusion of some of the hopefuls from the list of approved candidates. “All the cases will be deemed submitted for resolution," Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said. - KBK, GMANews.TV