Willie Revillame talks decision to run for Senate on ‘The Big Story’

Last night on One News’ The Big Story, Regina Lay, Shawn Yao, and Gretchen Ho had Willie Revillame in his first live TV interview since joining the senatorial race. 

Revillame, host of TV5’s Wil To Win, explained his decision to enter politics just three months after previously dismissing the idea of running during a One PH special.

“Kasi doon sa studio ng Wil To Win, it’s only about 600 people every day, hindi mo naman lahat natutulungan ‘yung 600 na ‘yun. So ‘yung budget mo sa tulong limited,” he said. “And then nung nakita ko ‘yung awayan ng awayan sa Congress, awayan ng awayan sa Senado, sabi ko kawawa ang mga Pilipino. Ito ‘yung mga taong ibinoto, ito ‘yung mga taong pinagkakatiwalaan, pero nakakalimutan ‘yung mga kawawang kababayan natin.”

Revillame has consistently turned down offers to run for public office in the past, including a spot in former President Rodrigo Duterte’s 2022 senatorial slate. He admitted he was still half-hearted when he filed his certificate of candidacy on Tuesday, but said that those who swayed him to run made him realize that this could be his opportunity to help more Filipinos.

While he’s pursuing his candidacy as an independent, Revillame said he’s open to alliance with the administration or with Duterte’s PDP-Laban. Ultimately, however, he’s counting on the support of his online following, believing that this could translate into actual votes.

“’Yung program ko it’s about 17,300,000 followers on Facebook. 8 million sa YouTube. Siguro naman sapat na ‘yun na tutulong sakin. Eh para sa kanila naman itong gagawin ko eh hindi naman para sakin,” he said.

Despite officially throwing his hat in the ring, Revillame stated that withdrawing from the race remains a possibility, depending on his ranking on election surveys.

“Actually, kaya ko lang din ginawa ito, sinubukan ko na lang din. Titignan ko rin. Nasa tao naman ito kung gusto nila ako,” he said. “Eh kung wala ka sa ratings eh bakit pa ako [tatakbo]? Ibig sabihin hindi nila ako gusto sa posisyon na ito. Baka doon lang ako sa show gusto.”

Watch the full interview below: