23 hours Ago By Ambo Delilan
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rapplerAds.displayAd( "mobile-middle-1" );NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines – Former Commission on Audit commissioner and independent senatorial candidate Heidi Mendoza has found allies in former Negros Occidental governor Rafael “Lito” Coscolluela, women’s rights advocates, and urban poor groups in the province.Coscolluela, now a convenor of opposition coalition 1Sambayan, endorsed Mendoza’s bid during her campaign stop in Bacolod on Wednesday, April 2.
He is leading volunteers campaigning for Mendoza across the vote-rich province.Coscolluela expressed hope that Mendoza’s candidacy in Negros Occidental would follow a trajectory similar to former vice president Leni Robredo’s 2019 campaign, which started with low numbers but gained traction with local voter support. Negros Occidental, including its capital Bacolod, is the country’s 6th vote-rich province with a combined 2.
34 million registered voters, according to Commission on Elections (Comelec) provincial supervisor Ian Lee Ananoria. Negros Occidental has historically been an opposition stronghold.Coscolluela said the 62-year-old Mendoza’s record indicates that she “can really do something for the country.
”Prominent women’s advocates in the province, including lawyer Andrea Lizares-Si, former Department of Education regional director Juliet Jeruta, and Bacolod Councilor Celia Matea Flor, also threw their support behind Mendoza. Si said Mendoza has shown that she is competent for a Senate job, while Flor described the senatorial candidate as “a mirror of integrity and capacity that the country really needs at the moment amid many challenges.”Joy Jaradelo, provincial coordinator of the Federation of Urban Poor in Negros Occidental, pledged her group’s efforts to campaign for Mendoza.
Mendoza acknowledged her financial constraints in running a nationwide campaign but added that she has remained optimistic, drawing parallels to the grassroots-driven campaigns of the late president Corazon Aquino, former president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, and Robredo. “I have no money to run and fuel a viable nationwide campaign, yet, like the Aquinos and former vice president Leni Robredo, I am also banking on the solid support of the Negrense voters,” she said. Amid the ongoing political rivalry between the Marcos and Duterte camps, Mendoza said sees opportunities for independent candidates like herself.
Mendoza said she was unfazed by survey rankings, which showed her ratings low. She said she sees the May 12 polls as “an election of possibilities.”She said she was confident in her chances.
“With Coscolluela as my lead campaigner in Negros Occidental, I could also win in the province, and even across the country,” she said.Mendoza, known for her anti-corruption work at COA, exposed alleged irregularities involving high-profile figures, including former Makati mayor Elenita Binay, former military comptroller Carlos Garcia, and former governor Zacaria Candao of the now-defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. – Rappler.
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