Senatorial candidates, who are endorsed by President Duterte. led by Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III (4th from left) attend a PDP-Laban rally at the Plaza Independencia on February 24. | CDNDigital Tonee Despojo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Senatorial bets endorsed by President Rodrigo Duterte courted Cebuano voters with promises to work on solving Cebu’s traffic problem.
In a series of interviews during the PDP-Laban Cebu Campaign Rally at the Plaza Independencia in Cebu City today, February 24, reelectionist Senators Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and JV Ejercito and former Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chief Francis Tolentino presented ways to solve Metro Cebu’s traffic problem.
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Pimentel said shifting to the federal form of government would be one way to solve the traffic problem.
“Kanang sa traffic, ang local [government] motudlo sa national [government], ang national motudlo pod sa local. Ang solusyon ana, federalism [because] klaro ang responsibility ug dunay division of labor. Ang traffic problem, that’s a local problem. Sa federalismo, maklaro na tanan,” Tolentino said.
Ejercito, for his part, said his main reason for running for reelection, despite having to compete with his brother former senator Jinggoy Estrada, would be to push for more infrastructure projects and transport modernization.
“In terms of infrastructure development, we are already behind by about 30 years that is why we cannot wait any longer,” Ejercito said.
He added that he was supporting both BRT (Bus Rapid Transit System) and LRT (Light Rail Transit System) in order to immediately solve traffic problems of Metro Cebu.
Pimentel, Ejercito and Tolentino are among the first candidates who arrived during the campaign sortie which kicked off at 3:52 p.m.
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The 5-man slate of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) dubbed as “MaBAGoKoTo,” composed of Zajid Mangudadatu, former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Chief Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, former Special Assistant to the President (SAP) Bong Go, Pimentel and Tolentino, were all present in the campaign rally.
They were joined by guest senatorial candidates Ejercito, Pia Cayetano, Imee Marcos and former Interior Secretary Raffy Alunan./dbs