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Jopet Sison counts on 'Ipaglaban Mo' popularity to boost his 2022 Senate bid

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Katrina Domingo, ABS-CBN News

MANILA - Aksyon Demokratiko senatorial candidate Jopet Sison finished the last stretch of the campaign on a happy note, saying he is &quot;very satisfied&quot; with his first attempt to run for a national position even if his name has yet to enter the Magic 12 in pre-election surveys.Sison is ranked between 28th and 36th place in Pulse Asia&#x27;s April pre-election poll, the highest spot among Aksyon Demokratiko&#x27;s senatorial candidates.&quot;Hindi naman ako bago sa pulitika,&quot; he told ABS-CBN News Digital in an interview in Cebu earlier this week.&quot;When I ran as councilor, every time they told me I was number 14, 13, 12 out of 6 positions... Nag-top ako after noon kaya hindi natin masabi talaga kung gaano ka-accurate yung surveys,&quot; he said.&quot;I&#x27;m still hopeful that with my ranking now, baka mag-plus 7, mag-plus 8. Baka pumasok.&quot; <figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2027363" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>Sison has become a household name thanks to &quot;Ipaglaban Mo!&quot;, his father&#x27;s decades-long legal program, where they dramatize cases that have been decided by the Supreme Court.In their town hall meetings and campaign rallies, Sison would break the ice and start his speech by simply shouting a portion of the shows tagline.&quot;Kapag may katwiran?&quot; Sison would ask the crowd, and to which the audience would respond: &quot;Ipaglaban Mo!Sison - a former Quezon City councilor - said that going around the country for about 6 months confirmed his perception that &quot;Ipaglaban Mo!&quot; would help him win one of the 12 Senate seats up for grabs this year.&quot;I weighed the circumstances and I was banking on also on the popularity of our program... I was thinking I could use it in going around and nakita mo naman na talagang kilala ng tao,&quot; he said.&quot;I think there is no problem in awareness in recognizing the program, but in informing them that I am running for senator, I think we need a little more help there,&quot; he said.Campaigning with a limited kitty is one of the challenges of a neophyte candidate, Sison said.&quot;It is really campaign materials, yung labanan ng posters dahil talagang napakalawak ng bansa,&quot; he said.&quot;The intensity of the campaign would depend on the contributions you would want to overextend my resources so I campaign based on the resources that have been given to me,&quot; he said.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/14/21/jopet-sison-runs-for-senator-under-aksyon-demokratiko">&#x27;Ipaglaban Mo&#x27; host Jopet Sison replaces Noli De Castro as Aksyon Demokratiko Senate bet</a></li></ul>Sison said the scale of a senatorial campaign was the reason why his father initially opposed his plan of gunning for a national post.&quot;Nalula din siya dahil nationwide ang kampanya, but i told him I would have the support of the party and the Isko group,&quot; he said.&quot;I decided to run for national office during presidential elections because I know there will be a president running and I know he will be campaigning hard. He would need a team that would join him,&quot; he said.<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2027364" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>Sison came as a substitute candidate for veteran broadcaster and former Vice President Noli De Castro, who backed out from the senatorial race due to personal reasons. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/13/21/noli-de-castro-withdraws-senatorial-candidacy">Noli de Castro withdraws senatorial candidacy</a></li></ul>While his entry to the party seemed abrupt, Sison said he has no regrets in joining the slate of Aksyon Demokratiko standard bearer Isko Moreno Domagoso, noting that having a principal with his own machinery has its perks.&quot;I will not join if it&#x27;s the midterms. If you&#x27;re relying on the resources of the candidate running for president, this is an advantage,&quot; he said.&quot;If there is no principal running, the resources will not be this intense,&quot; he said.&quot;In terms of sorties, going around, I&#x27;m very satisfied with what I have been doing.&quot;<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/14/21/jopet-sison-runs-for-senator-under-aksyon-demokratiko">&#x27;Ipaglaban Mo&#x27; host Jopet Sison replaces Noli De Castro as Aksyon Demokratiko Senate bet</a></li></ul>Candidates vying for a national post for the first time will have a hard time campaigning nationwide by themselves, Sison said, &quot;Campaigning nationwide is different, talagang napakalawak ng iikutin at hindi ko siya magagawa kung hindi ako kasama ng partido at ng grupo,&quot; he said.Pre-election surveys &quot;would indicate that people still prefer the incumbents,&quot; he said.&quot;Those who are able to use the resources of government in going around the constituencies, they have a better advantage... mas may recall, mas may materials,&quot; he said.&quot;Kailangan lang talagang umikot pa at damihan yung materials in order to inform the people that I am running for senator,&quot; he said.Sison has been wooing voters with the promise to craft laws that would strengthen and extend more benefits for barangay officials, as well as policies that would make housing either free or more affordable for ordinary Filipinos.Sison was a Quezon City councilor for 6 years, served as assistant general manager of the National Housing Authority (NHA) from 2001 to 2005, and was president of the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC) from 2006 to 2012.Sison, a former Quezon City chairman of the Liberal Party, ran for Quezon City vice mayor in 2019 under the ruling PDP-Laban, but lost to Gian Sotto, son of Senate President Vicente Sotto III.&quot;If I look back, and given the same resources, I would do the same [campaign strategies],&quot; he said.&quot;Probably I would look for more resources and if I had these resources, given the rankings now from the present surveys, I would invest more in order to get more awareness and get more votes.&quot;His journey as a neophyte candidate on the national arena is &quot;incomparable,&quot; Sison said.&quot;I&#x27;m very thankful for what we were able to accomplish going around with the group, with Isko,&quot; he said.&quot;It&#x27;s incomparable. I always tell them that I&#x27;m here to win, to be a senator, but I also appreciate the journey,&quot; he said.&quot;But don&#x27;t get me wrong... I&#x27;m really very hopeful. Hindi ako bago sa pulitika at alam ko &#x27;yung posibilidad na baka sa dulo umangat yan, not only for me but also for Isko and the other members of the group.&quot;

Aksyon Demokratiko senatorial bet Jopet Sison finished the last stretch of the campaign on a happy note, saying he is 'very satisfied.' 

Jopet Sison counts on 'Ipaglaban Mo' popularity to boost his 2022 Senate bid

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Jopet Sison counts on 'Ipaglaban Mo' popularity to boost his 2022 Senate bid

Katrina Domingo,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 08, 2022 06:53 PM PHT

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Jopet Sison

Aksyon Demokratiko

Halalan 2022

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