De Guzman, Espiritu bank on youth vote in 2025 Senate bid

Partido Lakas ng Masa senatorial candidates and labor leaders Leody de Guzman and Luke Espiritu hold their miting de avance at the Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila on Friday night, May 9, 2025. — Photo by Jason Sigales/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM) senatorial candidates and labor leaders Leody de Guzman and Luke Espiritu are counting on the youth to turn out for them in the 2025 midterm elections.

“We focused on the young students. We went around most schools. We have a victory there,” De Guzman said in a chance interview after their miting de avance at the Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila on Friday night.

“The students, who are not pressured by economic pressures, have seen our explanations, our intentions, our agenda and that captured the imagination of the youth,” he added.

Both De Guzman and Espiritu acknowledged that they never cracked the “Magic 12” in pre-election surveys but still saw their campaign as a step forward.

“For us, it’s just a matter of time. Victory can come in 2025, but if not, we could gain a lot in terms of political capital. We will never go away and we will ultimately achieve power,” Espiritu said.

READ: Labor leaders running for Senate think daily minimum wage must be P1,500

The two labor leaders running for the Senate, who have anchored their campaign mainly on workers’ rights, previously called to raise the daily minimum wage to P1,500./das