Senators Grace Poe and Francis Escudero held the opening salvo of their campaign on Tuesday February 9, at Plaza Miranda in Manila.
It's the same place where supporters of her father, Fernando Poe, Jr, protested disqualification issues against him in 2003.
Camille Elemia reports.
Thousands of people gather here at Plaza Miranda in Manila to support the campaign launch of Senators Grace Poe and Francis Escudero and their senatorial slate.
But just a few kilometers down the road the gods of Padre Faura are also gathered to hear and eventually decide on Poe's disqualification case.
Nothing can stop the team and their supporters from the 90-day battle ahead, as people flock to the historic plaza, where Poe launched her senatorial campaign in 2013 and where supporters of her father the late action star Fernando Poe Jr protested at the height of disqualification issues against him in 2004.
Nine of the 12 senatorial bets are present. Ralph Recto and Migz Zubiri sent their representatives while Manzano was a no-show at Tuesday's event.
The opportunity came for Poe to hit critics calling her dramatic.
Poe says while her life is indeed filled with drama, it is her real life. After all, her life resembles a movie — a foundling adopted by movie stars who eventually became a senator.
GRACE POE, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Some people say my life is full of drama. And that may be true because like the rest of our fellow Filipinos, I've experienced hardships and pain. I've been oppressed and belittled but I rose up and fought the battle that the storms of life and fate brought me. Maybe this is what they call drama but this is reality and this is real life. It is the reality the many Filipinos experience each day.
Poe again brings up her father FPJ and relives his memorable movie lines in her campaign speech.
GRACE POE, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our tolerance for poverty, our tolerance for corruption, is at its end. We will beat it out of our system together.
Poe's campaign is off to a good start, after having regained the lead in the recent Pulse Asia and Laylo surveys.
If there's one thing Poe made sure after this - it's that she's more than ready to stand against her more organized and experienced opponents.
But this is just the beginning of her 90-day journey. More challenges await not just her but all candidates- in an elections gearing up to be anyone's ball game each day.
Camille Elemia, Rappler, Manila