Stronger minority seen with Kiko, Bam comebacks

Sen. Risa Hontiveros is optimistic that the comeback bids of Kiko Pangilinan and Bam Aquino will help strengthen her single-member minority bloc in the 20th Congress as Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel retires from the Senate.

- MARC JAYSON CAYABYAB

Pimentel, her current partner in the bloc, is stepping down from his Senate position to pursue a district seat in Marikina, leaving Hontiveros as the lone voice in the minority for the time being.

"They are going against well-known and well-funded names who are ahead of them in surveys. But we will continue fighting and it will be worth fighting for," Hontiveros said during the Kapihan sa Senado yesterday.

"My wish is for the minority to get bigger. There are only two. And I don't plan on being alone in the 20th Congress," she added.

Pangilinan, a Liberal Party candidate, and Aquino, of the Katipunan ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino, are still outside the "Magic 12" winning circle, according to the latest Social Weather Stations survey conducted from Feb. 15 to 19.