MANILA — The minority Liberal Party looking to field candidates in the 2025 midterm elections shows it is rebuilding after a string of defeats, a University of Santo Tomas political science professor said, saying that could potentially mean better law-making in Congress.

LP has said it is eyeing former Sens. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan and Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV and human rights lawyer Juan Manuel “Chel” Diokno, as well as former Vice President Leni Robredo as potential candidates.

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“It’s going to strengthen (if they win)… increase and strengthen the voice of the opposition in the Senate,” UST Political Science Department chair Dennis Coronacion said on ANC’s “Dateline Philippines” on Saturday.

He said having more members in the opposition at the House and Senate would help “ensure that there’s going to be a healthy democracy” by helping make sure that the administration “using its numbers, is not going to come up with half-baked laws” and policies that are against the public interest.

The minority, by definition, is always outnumbered, but the Duterte and Marcos administrations have enjoyed a supermajority in Congress.

He said a stronger voice for the opposition would have a “positive impact on the law-making process.”

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’CONNECT WITH VOTERS’

The LP will need to learn to connect with voters if it plans to recover from a series of defeats at the polls, Coronacion said.

The Robredo-led opposition slate ran on a platform of good governance, food security and human rights, but was trounced by the UniTeam’s promise of a united government.

“The messages that they tried to convey in the past elections did not resonate with the voters,” Coronacion said, adding the party will need to learn to win voters over “without sacrificing the party’s principles.”

De Lima, a former senator out on bail on the last of three drug cases filed against her by the Duterte administration, “can put it in the proper perspective by saying ‘This is what can possibly happen to you if you go up against a government that doesn’t want any voice of opposition’,” Coronacion also said.

Apart from LP, Akbayan, the Makabayan bloc and a coalition of labor groups and formations have fielded opposition slates in recent senatorial elections.

Coronacion said the midterm elections will likely be intense since the administration knows that it is often seen as a referendum of its policies and performance.

“This is important for President [Ferdinand Marcos Jr.] and his allies since they’re going to find out if the voters are approving what they have been doing in the past 2 or more years,” he said.