MARAMING nanliligaw sa award-winning TV host na si Boy Abunda para tumakbong senador sa darating na 2022 presidential at national elections.
Ngayon pa lang ay kinukumbinsi na ang King of Talk ng ilang partido na tanggapin ang hamon na kumandidato para sa isang national post dahil sure na sure na raw ang pagkapanalo niya.
Ngunit ang lahat ng ito ay tinanggihan ng TV host, “It’s a major decision. I’m not ready to run for the Senate. I have been invited to run for the Senate.
“I don’t have the tenacity, I don’t have the strength to run a national campaign. I don’t have the money. I don’t have the national political organization.
“It takes a national organization to run a national campaign. Kailangan mo ng logistics. I don’t have that,” katwiran ni Tito Boy sa panayam ng ABS-CBN.
“Most important of all, wala akong apoy sa bituka. I don’t have fire in my belly for the Senate,” aniya pa.
Samantala, inamin naman niya na bukas ang kanyang puso sa para sa isang local position, elected man o appointed.
Sey ni Tito Boy na mula sa Borongan, Eastern Samar, kino-consider niya ang pagtakbo sa local post lalo na nang ipasara ng kongreso ang ABS-CBN.
“I was very emotional, I was very angry. Ang kapatid ko, sabi niya sa akin, ‘E ‘di tumakbo ka sa atin, mag-congressman ka,’” aniya na ang tinutukoy ay ang sister niyang si Maria Fe Abunda, ang incumbent congresswoman ng Eastern Samar.
“It was half-meant, but I knew when she said that, it also came from the heart. ‘Why not go to public service?’ Ang aming nanay at tatay ay nasa public service. Ang kapatid ko ay three-term mayor. Ngayon, congresswoman.
“I thought about. ‘Oo nga, ‘no? I can actually run.’ I’m not closing my doors on politics. Doors are open. “But Senate? No. National position is out of the question,” diin pa niya.
Mensahe pa niya, “What I learned in the business is you fight to win. I’ve had so many losses in my life early on, when I didn’t know the art of war.
“Pero, at this point in my life, you go into a contest, not to display your public-speaking prowess, but you go to win. You prepare for it.
“So noong sinabi sa akin ng kapatid ko if I was interested to go and run for a local post, like what she had, napaisip ako doon. But am I going to run in 2022? I really don’t know. I don’t think so. It will take some gargantuan reason for me to change my mind, but my doors are not closed,” paliwanag pa niya.
Paalala naman niya sa mga Filipino, lalo na sa mga kabataan, register and vote, “Ang kapangyarihan ay na sa ating mga kamay. Mas makapangyarihan tayo kahit kanino man, kung ito’y ating gagamitin. It starts by voting for who we think is right to serve our country.
“Think about them, think about yourselves, think about now. So go out and vote. That way, you exercise that power,” dagdag pa ni Tito Boy.