Senator Bong Revilla

Leave it to box-office actor and now Senator Bong Revilla Jr., to defy the norm of the current political race. With his political TV ads still scheduled to air starting Feb. 10 or 15, he has however risen to the top of the Senatorial bets. He is now ranked number one in the recent Social Weather Station and Pulse Asia Senatorial Survey.

The ranking though has not been a priority in his bid to run again for Senator for his second term of office. He has always stressed that it has always been service to Filipinos nationwide or as he would say “sa Bong-sambayanan” is the number one reason he has entered politics.

“I’m very thankful to God who’s always there for me and to the Filipino people who have always trusted me. I’ve been receiving continuous blessings and I’m just grateful,” expressed the Senator in a recent meeting with the entertainment press.

As to what he could attribute his current standing in the Senatorial race, he pointed to the recent box-office success of “Ang Panday” during the 2009 Metro Manila Film Festival.

“I also know that it has been for my performance as a Senator in the past years. I’m always been working hard and serving the people has always been my priority,” he added.

As one of the more prominent legislators of the country, Sen. Bong Revilla Jr. boasts of filing more than 500 bills and has passed 103 laws. He also held important positions in the Senate including as Chairman of Committee of Public Works and Chairman of Committee of Public Service.

“And I don’t have any record of graft and corruption or any bad record as Senator,” declared Sen. Bong who was branded as the third most productive Senator of the 14th Congress.

With regards to being number one in the poll of the Senatorial race, he simply stressed the importance of putting one’s heart in serving sincerely the Filipino people. He added that he owes everything to the Filipino people because he believes that they were instrumental in placing him on such pedestal. First they supported him in “Ang Panday” and now in the surveys.

“I can’t ask for anything more. All I know is that I have to repay them by working hard and serving the public well,” he said.

The trade-off though is the Senator’s bidding goodbye to showbiz. He has already taken a leave of absence from his GMA-7 show “Kap’s Amazing Stories” (his son has already taken over his show which continues to earn high ratings) and he didn’t schedule any film project for him until after the national elections.

“I’ll be back on the silver screen this December... I don’t know if my project with Vic Sotto will push through or if we’ll schedule it for this year’s film festival or another date. This will surely be a big movie,” he promised.

With political campaigns starting this February, has he already planned an advance Valentine’s Day celebration with wife Lani Mercado before his schedule becomes hectic?

“Of course we’ll have a date. But everyday for me and Lani is a Valentine’s Day,” he smiled.