No halting of ballot printing as senatorial bet withdraws

Inquirer file photo

MANILA, Philippines — A day before the start of the campaign period for national candidates, incumbent Agri party list Rep. Wilbert Lee said he was withdrawing from the Senate race because he does not have the political machinery for a successful national campaign.

He added that he would instead focus on helping his party list group in its reelection bid.

“As I traveled around our country, I realized that the machinery we currently have is not enough to reach all our fellow citizens and to introduce and inform them about the advocacies I am fighting for,” Lee told reporters on Monday at the Commission on Elections head office in Manila as he formally withdrew his candidacy.

Comelec Chair George Garcia said that Lee’s name would remain on ballots, saying the poll body could not afford to suspend yet again the printing of ballots to be used in the May 12 polls.

“We will not order the reprinting of ballots. His name will remain in the ballots, and if he receives any votes, it is considered stray,” he said.

READ: Comelec: Over 24% of target ballots for 2025 polls printed so far

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, in its October report, tagged Lee as among the candidates who spent a lot of money on their social media presence.

It noted that Lee spent about P1.75 million to boost ads on Facebook, the country’s most popular social media platform, including some that ran without disclaimers, from July to September last year.

He was also the first to expose in September 2023 that the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. had enormous available funds worth more than P500 billion, besides the yearly P100 billion government subsidy.