Frustrated by the Duterte administration’s response to the pandemic, ophthalmologist Minguita Padilla is seeking a Senate seat in the May 2022 elections.

Shortly after filing her certificate of candidacy (COC) for senator on Wednesday, October 6, Padilla told reporters that if elected, she would push for health reforms.

Her plans include battling medical misinformation, fighting corruption, and addressing irregularities in the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth). Padilla has also championed COVID-19 vaccination and called on the government to ease restrictions for those who have been vaccinated against the disease. 

“Ang kulang na pagtugon sa pandemya, ang pagprayoridad sa negosyo, ang garapalang pagpapayaman ng iilan…ilan lang ito sa mga dahilan kaya ako tumakbo” Padilla said. 

(Failures in addressing the pandemic, the prioritization of businesses, and the blatant corruption of several people…these are just some of the reasons why I am running.)

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Padilla, who led the medical team of Presidential Adviser Joey Concepcion’s Project ARK (Antibody Rapid Test Kit), is the latest member of the medical profession to signify interest in running for public office to help address the health crisis. 

Padilla said she will run under the senatorial ticket of Partido Reporma of Senator Panfilo Lacson and Senate President Vicente Sotto III, who are running as presidential and vice presidential tandem in the 2022 polls. 

Padilla said she was also vetted by opposition coalition 1Sambayan, although it has yet to announce its final endorsed senate lineup. 

No time for ‘fence-sitting’

Days before filing her COC, Padilla criticized the “epic corruption” seen in the administration, whose officials are being accused of mishandling taxpayers’ money and seeking to profit during the pandemic.

Marathon congressional probes have zeroed in on the government’s purchase of pandemic items and mishandling of public funds, particularly by the Department of Health and Procurement Services of the Department of Budget and Management. 

“The corruption that we have been allowed to see of late is of the worst kind. It is heinous. It is the kind that flourished and took advantage of the suffering of millions in order to make quick money, even if it meant depriving our country of the best and the most timely response, supplies, and infrastructure that could have given us a better chance of emerging from this pandemic faster,” Padilla wrote in an Inquirer column. 

Padilla described the May 2022 polls as “not just an election,” but a “major battle.” “This is certainly not a time for fence-sitting,” she said in her opinion piece. 

Declaring her Senate run, Padilla echoed this, saying: “Mahal na mahal ko ang aking propesyon at pasyente. Mahal ko rin ang ating bayan na parang pabaon nang pabaon sa kadiliman.” 

(I really love my profession and my patients. I also love my country that seems to plunging deeper and deeper into darkness.) – Rappler.com