Bakud endorses Poe, Escudero
Danao City Vice Mayor and Bakud Party president Ramon “Red” Durano VI (5th from left) leads Bakud Party officials in announcing the group’s support for the presidential candidacy of Sen. Grace Poe and his running mate Sen. Francis Escudero during yesterday’s press briefing in Danao City. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)
Danao City — In the end, blood will always be thicker than politics for the Durano clan of Cebu’s 5th district.
The Durano-led local party, Barug Alang sa Kauswagan ug Demokrasya (Bakud), yesterday announced its support for the presidential bid of Sen. Grace Poe and her running mate, Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero.
The role of Cebu Rep. Joseph Ace Durano as the tandem’s campaign manager was the main reason why Bakud was throwing its support behind Poe and Escudero even if presidential candidate, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte was a relative.
“Ace is a closer relative than Duterte,” explained the congressman’s brother, Danao City Vice Mayor Ramon “Red” Durano VI in a news conference on Thursday here.
Red, Bakud president, admitted that they considered Duterte a “challenge” in getting a solid vote for Poe in the 5th district because the Davao mayor traced his roots to Danao.
But he added that Bakud would do its best to ensure the victory of Poe and Escudero in the district comprised of 10 towns and one city with voting population of 400,000.
As a show of force, 10 mayors and 11 vice mayors showed up in the press conference at Aduna Villa, Barangay Guinsay, Danao, 33.1 km north of Cebu City.
All wore white polo shirts or long sleeves polo — the campaign color of Poe.
Only one mayor in the district does not belong to Bakud — Liloan Mayor Duke Frasco of One Cebu whose wife, Cristina, is eldest daughter of Cebu Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia of 2nd district.
In a text message sent to Cebu Daily News, Ace, said he was thankful that he and his family had only one candidate in mind.
But he said that prior to accepting the offer to be the campaign manager of Poe and Escudero, he consulted his father, Mayor Ramon “Nito” Durano III and brother Red.
Red said the decision to support the tandem involved a lot of convincing and consultation process among party members.
He pointed out Ace’s role in the Poe-Escudero campaign was the main factor why Bakud did not support Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas although they gave their commitment to support the LP local candidates led by Gov. Hilario Davide III and Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale, their aunt.
Nito said a lot of candidates asked their support but he had already given his blessing to Ace when his son asked his permission to be the campaign manager of Poe and Escudero.
“Since August (last year), I was already committed to Ace,” he said.
“Because of that murag wala nami motan-aw pa og laing kandidato. (Because of that, we did not look at other candidates.) It was just that,” Nito said.
What stopped Bakud from making an announcement then was the pending disqualification cases filed against Poe at the Supreme Court.
“This is a decision that we didn’t take lightly knowing the disqualification cases that Sen. Grace Poe was facing. Majority of the members were hesitant to really voice out their commitment of support for Sen. Grace,” he told reporters.
But last week, the Supreme Court ruled that Poe is qualified to run for president since she is a natural-born Filipino and has met the 10-year residency rule.
Bakud members met on March 15 to pass a resolution to formally express their support for Poe and Escudero.
Adano Roble, Bakud secretary general, read the Bakud resolution during Thursday’s press conference.
In the resolution, Bakud said the tandem of Poe and Escudero embodied the ideals and principles of the party.
The local party also added that Bakud believed that the tandem would be able to address the problems of the country since both had the character and capability to lead the nation and implement their platform of inclusive growth.
LP BETS REACTIONS
With Bakud’s endorsement of the Poe-Escudero tandem, LP members in the province will have to work double time to deliver votes for their national candidates.
Provincial Board Member Grecilda Sanchez, who is running for a 3rd district congressional seat against incumbent Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia, said the decision of the Durano-led Bakud party may affect votes for Roxas and Robredo.
“I, likewise, respect the decision of the Bakud group. However, given the scenario, our group in the 3rd district will double efforts to maximize (votes) for LP,” she said in a text message to Cebu Daily News.
Cebu’s 3rd district is composed of Toledo City, Aloguinsan, Asturias, Balamban, Barili, Pinamungajan, and Tuburan.
Provincial Board Member Christopher Baricuatro, who is running for representative of Cebu’s 7th district, said he too would work double time in his district to deliver the votes for Roxas and Robredo.
“I am still confident the LP in Cebu can deliver for LP. I expect nothing will change between the relationship between the two parties. The vice governor is still with us,” said Baricuatro.
Cebu’s 7th district is composed of Alcantara, Alegria, Badian, Dumanjug, Ginatilan, Malabuyoc, Moalboal, and Ronda.
Davide and Magpale, who were both on Bantayan Island yesterday, could not be reached for comment.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
