Senator-elect Hontiveros takes oath at Cebu Capitol

Ryan Macasero

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Senator-elect Hontiveros takes oath at Cebu Capitol
Senator-elect Ana Theresia 'Risa' Hontiveros takes her oath as senator in Cebu as a way to 'thank Cebuanos who stood by her side since 2010'

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cebu governor Hilario Davide III administered the oath for senator-elect Ana Theresia “Risa” Hontiveros on Sunday, June 19.

Hontiveros said she chose to take her oath in Cebu City as her way of saying thank you to Cebuanos who “stood by her side since 2010.”

After two previous tries in running for a Senate seat, Hontiveros placed 9th in the 2016 race with 15,915,213 votes.

In the vote-rich province of Cebu – home to 2.7 million voters – Hontiveros obtained 816,000 votes.

Davide is a member of the Liberal Party (LP), while Hontiveros is part of LP-allied Akbayan Party. Cebu was a stronghold of the LP, the party of President Benigno Aquino III. Before the last election, most leaders in Cebu belonged to the party.

This is Hontiveros’ 3rd time running for the Senate. She previously ran in 2010 and 2013. (READ: Risa Hontiveros finally wins Senate seat: ‘We defied gravity’)

A former director of the state-run Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), Hontiveros said she would continue pushing for health reforms once she begins her term in the Senate on July 1.

“I will be filing the Barangay Health Worker (BHW) bill to expand the benefits of our barangay health workers; the amendment to RA 8344 or the Anti-Hospital Deposits Act to further strengthen to law and assist mothers and infants in critical pregnancies; and the extension of maternity leave,” she said in a press statement.

Hontiveros said her first order of business would be crafting a bill for the creation of super barangay health clinics and to assist health care workers to improve quality of rural health care.

She also said she would “reject violence and oppression, in support of our collective aspirations for a just an equal society.” Hontiveros previously said that while she would be willing to work with the Duterte administration’s policies, she would not be afraid to oppose measures she doesn’t agree with such as the death penalty. 

In 2004, former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo held an inauguration ceremony outside the Cebu Provincial Capitol, the first Philippine president to hold an inaugration outside of Luzon. This year, Hontiveros is the only senator-elect to take their oath in Cebu so far. – Rappler.com

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Nobuhiko Matsunaka

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Ryan Macasero

Ryan covers social welfare for Rappler. He started at Rappler as social media producer in 2013, and later took on various roles for the company: editor for the #BalikBayan section, correspondent in Cebu, and general assignments reporter in the Visayas region. He graduated from California State University, East Bay, with a degree in international studies and a minor in political science. Outside of work, Ryan performs spoken word poetry and loves attending local music gigs. Follow him on Twitter @ryanmacasero or drop him leads for stories at ryan.macasero@rappler.com