Tolentino files for Senate re-election, aims economic recovery and foreign policy

Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino has officially declared his candidacy for a second term in the Senate by filing his certificate of candidacy at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Law Department Offsite Working Area in Manila City on Tuesday morning.

Tolentino, who is running under the Marcos administration's coalition Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas, aims to continue pursuing his legislative agenda focusing on economic recovery and foreign relations and defense matters should he be reelected in 2025.

Despite being one of seven reelectionist senators from the 19th Congress to file for candidacy, Tolentino currently ranks between 20th and 30th in recent Pulse Asia Research pre-election surveys.

Tolentino resigned from President Duterte's PDP-Laban party in August due to differences over foreign policy, particularly regarding the West Philippine Sea issue.

As a vocal advocate of the 2016 Hague arbitral ruling against China's claims in the South China Sea, Tolentino authored the landmark maritime zones bill and chaired the Senate blue ribbon committee that investigated anomalous deals by government agencies.