LOOK: The crowd in UniTeam’s grand rally in Cebu City on April 18, 2022. | CDN Digital Photo by Morexette Marie Erram
CEBU CITY, Philippines – “Daog na. Daog na.”
This chant echoed repetitively in what was described as the UniTeam’s ‘biggest rally yet’ held here last Monday, April 18.
At least 300,000 individuals trooped to the Filinvest Grounds at the South Road Properties (SRP) on Monday to join the grand rally of presidential candidate, former Sen. Bongbong Marcos and his running mate, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
The sortie, which lasted for approximately seven hours, was the first grand rally in Cebu for Marcos and Duterte-Carpio as a tandem.
Cebu is the country’s most vote-rich province.
“Ang bilang ngayon nitong rally na ito, ito na ang pinakamalaking rally sa buong kampanya nito. Salamat Cebu sa inyong supporta, sa inyong tiwala,” said Marcos.
The UniTeam’s ‘festival-themed’ grand rally was held 21 days before the May 9 polls, and barely six days since 1Cebu, the province’s largest political party, formally backed the survey frontrunners.
In an ambush interview on Monday, reporters asked Marcos about his “game plan” for the remaining days of the campaign.
“Nothing new really. It hasn’t changed,” Marcos said, speaking in a mix of English and Filipino.
“We continue to strengthen our organization. We are teaching our people (about) vote protection. We’re at that stage.”
Based on the latest Pulse Asia survey released on April 6, Marcos still has the lead among presidential candidates with 56%. He is followed by Vice President Leni Robredo with 24%.
Marcos still leads in all locales — 64% in Metro Manila, 54% in Balance Luzon, 48% in the Visayas, and 62% in Mindanao.
“It’s a good result, but we cannot take that for granted,” Marcos said.
‘Biggest UniTeam Rally’
The festival-themed grand rally last Monday was organized by Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) and Tingog Partylist.
The Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) said the event was peaceful and orderly.
“So far so good. Wa man tay dagkong insidente nahitabo sukad ganina sa pagsugod. Hapsay ra ang pagpatuman sa plano,” said Police Lt. Col. Wilbert Parilla, deputy director for operations of the CCPO.
The police, however, managed to confiscate several hazardous items such as lighters, cigarettes and a butane canister.
Parilla also said that based on their estimate, around 300,000 people joined the sortie within Filinvest Grounds. The figures, however, did not include participants witnessing the event right outside the venue.
Aside from the UniTeam standard bearers, other candidates who wooed voters from Cebu included senatorial candidates Harry Roque, Herbert Bautista, Larry Gadon, Sherwin Gatchalian, Jinggoy Estrada, and Migz Zubiri.
Local candidates were also present during Monday’s sortie such as Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia; Reps. Paz Radaza (Lapu-Lapu City lone district) and Lolypop Ouano-Dizon (Cebu 6th District); Metro Cebu Mayors Michael Rama (Cebu City), Jonas Cortes (Mandaue City), Junard Chan (Lapu-Lapu City), and Gerald Anthony Gullas (Talisay City); and mayors and candidates for other local posts coming from the province’s municipalities and component cities.
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