Political content creator Eli San Fernando, who went viral for poking fun at premature campaigning, shared his reasons for running as a nominee of a party-list in the 2025 midterm elections.
The content creator filed his Certificate of Nomination and Acceptance (CONA) for first nominee of the Kamanggagawa party-list in the upcoming polls on Tuesday, October 1, at the Manila Hotel’s Tent City.
San Fernando previously made waves by creating a billboard featuring his name and image with the following text:
“INGAT PO SA BIYAHE! Tatakbo kasi ako sa eleksyon. Wala kasing PREMATURE CAMPAIGNING sa Pilipinas!”
He was poking fun at the practice of politicians putting up tarpaulins, billboards, and other paraphernalia to promote themselves before the election.
San Fernando was particularly referring to politicians who would only make themselves known during such occasions, even though they “do not care” about workers and ordinary Filipinos.
“Eh tapos, ‘yung mga mukha niyo, mas malaki pa sa mga paalala! Kanyo, tatakbo kasi kayo sa eleksyon kaya bina-balandra niyo ‘yung mga mukha niyo, kahit saan!” he exclaimed before.
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Days later, San Fernando made his billboard text a reality and filed his CONA as the first nominee of the Kamanggagawa party-list (Kampihan ng mga Maralita at Manggagawa) on the first day of the filing period.
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He also shared his reasons for deciding to run for public office.
“Simple lang naman ang dahilan kung bakit kami nag-file. ‘Di pa ba tayo sawa sa klase ng politika na meron tayo ngayon? Magkakapatid, magka-ama, mag-iina, pami-pamilya ang namumuno sa’tin!” the content creator said in a video.
“Mga party-list na pinamumunuan ng mga oligarko! Ni hindi alam ang mga buhay ng mga ordinaryong Pilipino at mga manggagawa,” San Fernando added.
“Paano natin aasahan na magkakaroon ng mga makabuluhan, maayos na mga batas at polisiya, kung ‘yung mga namumuno sa atin ay hindi naman danas ‘yung buhay ng isang ordinaryong Pilipino,” he continued.
He added that they filed for a CONA to take back party-lists for ordinary Filipinos.
San Fernando also said that they will not declare campaign promises.
He added that they only want to eradicate provincial rates among regional workers, saying they desire equal working wages among Metro Manila, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao workers.
The content creator also said there is a need to raise workers’ salaries in the country.
If elected, San Fernando said his main agenda at the House of Representatives would be scraping provincial rates.
Each region in the country has a minimum wage set by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards based on the poverty threshold, employment rate and cost of living specific to the region.
Meanwhile, San Fernando also serves as the vice president of the National Federation of Labor.
COC and CONA filing has traditionally served as the country’s ceremonial opening of the election season, with political aspirants formally declaring their bid to run for public office.
On the national level, 12 seats are available in the Senate, 254 seats for House of Representative members, and 64 seats for party-list representatives.
The 2025 midterm elections will take place on May 12.
