Marcoleta: My Senate stint will not be driven by self-interest

MANILA, Philippines — Newly proclaimed Senator-elect Rodante Marcoleta said his term in the Senate will not be for his own interests.

“These six years that you’ve given me is not to use power but for the honest service that our fellow countrymen expect and long for,” Marcoleta said in Filipino during his speech after being proclaimed.

“This is not for my own interests but rather for the welfare and interest of every single Filipino,” he stressed.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) proclaimed Marcoleta as the sixth-ranking senator with 15,250,723 votes in a ceremony at the Manila Hotel on Saturday.

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Marcoleta’s remark came after Palace Press Office Claire Castro distinguished “obstructionists” in Congress as those only “fighting for their own interests.”

“What we need now is cooperation, not conflicts. What we need now is not competitions of accusations but rather to find and discover the most effective ways toward progress,” Marcoleta added in Filipino when he delivered his message.

Marcoleta ran under the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino Lakas ng Bayan (PDP Laban) slate, the party chaired by former President Rodrigo Duterte and endorsed by Vice President Sara Duterte. /jpv