Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia during a press conference on October 25, 2022 at the Cebu Capitol, Cebu City. | CDN Digital File Photo
CEBU CITY —Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia has pledged full support for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. following the split between the President and Vice President Sara Duterte, whom she and her party backed in 2022.
Garcia made this declaration at the 36th Joint Meeting of the UN Tourism Commission for East Asia and the Pacific and the UN Tourism Commission for South Asia, held at the Sheraton Cebu Mactan Resort in Lapu-Lapu City on Friday.
In her welcome remarks, Garcia, who leads the dominant political party in Cebu, said she and her allies have decided to continue supporting Mr. Marcos as the country gears up for the midterm polls next year.
“And as we did in 2022, Mr. President, we stand firmly behind you in full support for the man who called for unity. Here we are one island, one province, and one Cebu,” she said.
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Mr. Marcos, who was also on stage, was beaming as Garcia spoke.
The President was the guest of honor at the event hosted by the province of Cebu and the Department of Tourism (DOT) led by Garcia’s daughter and Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco.
Garcia’s speech was silent on Duterte who tapped Frasco as her spokesperson during the 2022 elections.
The Inquirer sent a text message to Garcia on Friday to ask if she and her party continued to support Duterte who has resigned from the Cabinet following a fallout with Mr. Marcos.
As of Saturday, the governor had not replied.
In the 2022 elections, Mr. Marcos got more than 1.5 million votes in Cebu which Garcia said was “the highest ever number of votes compared to any other place in the country.”
In her speech, the governor recalled that her One Cebu party gave its full support to Mr. Marcos’ presidential bid in 2022, saying it was the latter who saw that the only way for the country to move forward and to cross boundaries for the greater good was to have unity.
“Our political leaders and the people of Cebu cast our luck with the man who called for unity. Well, Mr. President, may I now say that the unity we proved in that historic election in 2022 is now stronger than ever right here in this island of Cebu,” she added.
According to the governor, “unity” has been tested and proven in Cebu.
“There’s an extraordinary unity that has been the impetus for this island province to soar to great heights of progress and development,” she said.