Manitoba elections
Tenacious Ted fights second term
By Ted Alcuitas
“I am not taking it for granted. Kelangan kayud ng kayud,” says Ted Marcelino as he faces another battle to retain his Tyndall Park seat for the NDP on April 19.
He is seeking a second term in a riding with a large number of Filipino voters (42%) and being opposed by a kababayan, Aida Champagne for the Liberals.
In his first campaign in 2011, he faced two Filipinos – Roldan Sevillano for the Liberals and Cris Aglugub for the Conservatives. He beat the two soundly with 45% of the votes. Roldan had 35% and Aglugub, a former NDP-turned PC MLA, had 16%.
“It’s my way of giving back to the community,” he says of his desire to be in public office. “Even before I went into politics, I was already advocating for our kababayans. It was public service without public office.”
The former Philippine policeman and lawyer relishes in recalling about his passing the bar exam even if he was considered a ‘non-graduate’ from the University of the Philippines’ School of Law.
“There was some sort of misunderstanding among the professors but I was able to argue my case and they allowed me to proceed with the bar exams.”
This tenacity in pursuing his dream to become a lawyer served him well in his quest to seek public office in Canada.
In the 2011 election, he was told not to run “six times”, he revealed in the interview at his constituency office in late January.
“They told me I will not win based on the party’s internal polling,” but he went on to win the nomination despite fierce opposition.
And he faced two kababayans in the election – a unique situation with three candidates of the same ethnic background fighting each other.
Asked of his chances and his party’s in the light of disappointing polling results, he says polls are “a snap shot” and he remains confident the party will win the votes of Manitobans.
