MANILA, Philippines – The Nacionalista Party is set to field 3 senatorial candidates in the 2019 elections.

Reelectionist Senator Cynthia Villar said she would be running for the Senate with Taguig Representative and former senator Pia Cayetano and Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos.

Villar is the wife of NP president and former senator Manny Villar.

Asked about Marcos, who has been coy about her plans, Senator Villar said: “Yeah, she’s campaigning.”

Villar said Marcos has a big chance of winning. She also said the Marcos family has so far decided to field Governor Marcos and not former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr, who still has a pending protest before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal over the 2016 vice presidential results. (READ: Imee rallies support for a ‘Marcos in the Senate’ in 2019)

“Of course. Kaya lang naman siya nawawala [sa Magic 12] ‘pag isinasama si Bongbong, dalawa sila. Siyempre magulo ‘yun. Ibig sabihin dalawang kandidato hindi nila malaman sino iboboto – si Imee or Bongbong? Pero kung siya lang mag-isa, mananalo siya eh,” she said.

(Of course. She’s out of the Magic 12 only when Bongbong is included. Because it’s confusing to people, will they vote for Imee or Bongbong. But if it’s just her in the choices, she will win.)

Imee Marcos, however, is not included in the initial lineup of PDP-Laban, unlike Villar and Cayetano. But Villar said she would push for the governor’s inclusion in the ruling party’s slate. 

“In-endorse na siya ni President di ba?….Yes, she’s my partymate. Hindi naman kasi ako ang magdedecide sa PDP-Laban (The President already endorsed her, right? She’s my partymate. I’m not the one deciding for PDP-Laban). If they will ask me, of course I will support my partymate,” she said.

In the recent Pulse Asia Ulat ng Bayan survey, Marcos ranked 9th to 15th while Villar and Cayetano both ranked 2nd to 3rd.

As for her husband, the senator said he has no political plans next year. The former Senate president, she said, is busy with their businesses.

“Wala, wala. May business plan, walang political plan (None, he has a business plan, no political plan),” she said.  (READ: Entrepreneur Manny Villar: ‘I don’t like politics anymore’)

She also denied rumors that the former senator is set to run for mayor in Manila.

“Akala lang nila kasi di ba lagi ako sa Basco, akala nila kampanya (They just thought he’s running because I’m always in Baseco, they think I’m campaigning). That’s the mandamus of Manila Bay, we have to clean up Manila Bay and I’m making Baseco a model, a pilot project,” she said. – Rappler.com