(UPDATE) SAGIP party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta, one of the key oppositors to the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN, has withdrawn from the senatorial race.
Marcoleta, who also serves as a deputy speaker at the House of Representatives, cited his poor showing in pre-election surveys as reason for his withdrawal. In the March 2022 Pulse Asia survey, he ranked in the 24th to 30th spot.
“The fighter in me should also be brave enough to read the writings on the wall. Let’s call a spade a spade," Marcoleta said in a statement.
Comelec Commissioner George Erwin Garcia also confirmed that the Commission en banc has accepted Marcoleta's withdrawal from the senatorial race during their meeting earlier in the day.
With Marcoleta's withdrawal, all votes that will be cast for him in the May 9 elections will be considered stray.
Marcoleta is a member of PDP-Laban, the political party of President Rodrigo Duterte, although he was also part of the senatorial slate of presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos.
He thanked the president for encouraging him to run for senator, and Marcos' UniTeam slate for including him in their senatorial slate.
Despite his withdrawal, Marcoleta said he would continue campaigning for Marcos and his running mate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, and the rest of their slate.
“The BBM-Sara tandem exemplifies the politics of unity and working together, despite the divergent political persuasions, for the sake of the motherland—an element that is conspicuously absent in other teams," he said.
In one of campaign rallies he attended, Marcoleta told voters that he shut ABS-CBN without fear, adding it was for the public good.
"Pinakamalaking network sa ating bansa, makapangyarihan kayang ibagsak pati political career ng isang kandidato. Pero hindi tayo natakot dahil ang gusto natin walang lalabag sa batas," Marcoleta said.
"Hindi po tayo natakot. Isinara ko po ang ABS-CBN dahil sa inyo," he said. "Ngayon pa ba ako matatakot? Kasama ko si Bongbong Marcos, ngayon pa ba ako matatakot? Kasama ko si Inday Duterte," he said.
ABS-CBN was taken off the air in May 2020 after its franchise expired and it ceased broadcast permanently in July that same year after 70 members of a House of Representatives committee, including Marcoleta, voted to deny the franchise application.
Despite voting against the network's franchise renewal, Marcoleta had run political ads on ABS-CBN online in November despite voting to shut the network.
Apart from his role in the ABS-CBN franchise issue, Marcoleta is also known for pushing for the slashing of the Commission on Human Rights' budget to P1,000 in 2017.
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