Ka Leody, BMP’s Luke Espiritu to seek Senate seats in 2025 polls

Labor leaders Leody de Guzman and Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) president Atty. Luke Espiritu will be running for the Senate in the May 2025 midterm elections.

De Guzman and Espiritu announced their candidacies during BMP's 31st anniversary celebration on Saturday.

During the celebration, the two declared their opposition to political dynasties.

“Tamang ilaban natin lahat ng isyu ng sektor dahil yan ay kailangan for survival, pero dapat lagi’t lagi huwag nating kalilimutan na isabay na ang puno’t dulo ng lahat ng isyung ating nilalaban ngayon ay walang iba kundi ang political dynasty,” he said.

(It’s right for us to fight for all issues of all sectors because that is needed for survival, but we should always remember that the root of all the issues we are fighting now is none other than political dynasty.)

“Hangga’t dynasty ang gobyernong nakapwesto sa tuktok, [sa] Malacañang, Kongreso, Senado, hindi magwawakas ang hinagpis araw-araw ng mga mamamayan… dahil wala silang gagawin kundi ang mga bagay na para sa kanila,” he added.

(As long as the top of the government is run by a dynasty, [in] Malacañang, House of Representatives, Senate, the daily struggles of the people will not end… because they will only serve their own interests.)

Espiritu echoed De Guzman's message.

“Hindi natin tatanggapin na sila lang ang nagdidikta ng pampolitikal na diskurso sa ating lipunan at ngayon gusto natin kamtin ang politikal na kapangyarihan… Mga false solutions, false alternatives, mga budol-budol pinapasubo ng mga elite…  Hindi na natin tatanggapin at nakikita natin sa 31 years ng pakikibaka na kung hindi umagaw ng kapangyarihan ang manggagawang Pilipino, walang mangyayari sa lipunang Pilipino,” said Espiritu.

(We will no longer accept that they are the only ones dictating the political discourse of our nation, and now we also want to attain political power… False solutions, false alternatives, the tricks being fed to us by the elite… We will no longer accept this, and we can see it in those 31 years of our struggle that if Filipino workers don’t take power, nothing will happen to the Filipino nation.)

De Guzman and Espiritu ran for president and senator, respectively, in the 2022 elections, but lost. —VBL, GMA Integrated News