READY FOR SUNDAY’S DEBATE. Participants and guests of the Visayas leg of the PiliPinas Presidential Debate on Sunday will be met by the white, yellow, red and blue colors of the presidential candidates at the University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu Campus grounds. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
If Sen. Grace Poe can find the time to engage students, supporters of Mar Roxas intend to mobilize Cebu City’s urban poor to show support for the administration’s standard-bearer.
Davao City Mayor Rodolfo Duterte has his free concert and meetings with new allies from north to south of Cebu, while Vice President Jejomar Binay has his handshaking caravans across south of the province.
These were gleaned from the schedules released by the handlers of the four presidential candidates, who have lined up an array of pre-debate campaign sorties apparently aimed at taking advantage of their presence here for the Visayas leg of the PiliPinas Presidential Debate, organized by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), to woo the 2.7 million Cebuano voters.
Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago will not join tomorrow’s debate as she is set to “undergo clinical trial for a new anti-cancer pill to gain free access to the medication,” said a statement from her camp.
Binay (United Nationalist Alliance), the earliest to arrive in Cebu, came on board Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight PR 1865 at noon yesterday and immediately hit the ground running with a motorcade that began in Carcar City, which proceeded to Argao before ending in Talisay City.
Prior to going to the University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu campus in Barangay Lahug tomorrow, the debate venue, Binay will visit the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño in the morning to attend Sunday Mass.
Poe will be the next to arrive as she is expected to speak before graduating students of the Indiana Aerospace University in Lapu-Lapu City this morning.
Roxas (Liberal Party) and Duterte (PDP-Laban) will both arrive tomorrow.
Roxas will be in Cebu solely for the debate and his supporters from the urban poor sector are to be mobilized to show support for the LP candidate, according to a
Roxas campaign insider who asked not to be named as he/she is not authorized to speak to the media.
On the other hand, Duterte and running-mate Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano will arrive hours ahead of the debate and will immediately proceed on a motorcade dubbed “Ride for Duterte in Cebu Debate” that will start at 7 a.m. from the South Road Properties (SRP) food strip and on to Mactan Island before returning to Cebu City.
At 3 p.m., the tandem will launch the Bisaya Na Pod Movement Center at the former Kaona Grill in Barangay Lahug where his supporters will gather for the debate’s livestream.
The free concert “Konsyerto para sa Kausaban” organized by Duterte’s son Baste will be held at Cebu Coliseum and will feature local and national singing artists.
Duterte will join the concert after the debate ends at 8 p.m.
The following day, Duterte will meet with new allies Talisay City Mayor Johnny de los Reyes and Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy.
Duterte will meet De los Reyes before leaving on a caravan at 1:30 p.m. for the City of Carcar, where a town hall meeting has been set at 3 p.m. In between, Duterte will make pit stops in Minglanilla and Naga City and later meet with San Fernando Mayor Antonio Canoy and his slate. From Carcar, he will board a private helicopter to head for Lapu-Lapu City where he will barnstorm in the city’s public market before a sittind down to a private dinner with Sitoy.
SECURITY PREPARATIONS
The security preparations at the debate venue, meanwhile, have been completed, with about 100 military personnel to be deployed in and around the UP Cebu campus, said Maj. Abel Potutan, spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Central Command (Centcom).
Potutan stressed the Philippine National Police will remain in charge of security, with the AFP serving as augmentation force.
In case there will protest rallies by militant groups, Potutan said they have a 28-man Civil Disturbance Management (CDM) platoon ready to be deployed. “We will exercise maximum tolerance. We are there to ensure peace and order,” he said.
Karl Roque, who heads the debate security team, said only vehicles of the presidential candidates and their security escorts and some of the school’s officials will be allowed inside the campus.
There will be two medical outposts while an ambulance and fire trucks will be on standby inside the campus during the debate. About 55 plainclothes law enforcement will be scattered throughout the campus, he added.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS
Cebuano environmentalists also lined up activities aimed at urging the presidential candidates to address environmental issues.
The Sugboanong Nagpakabana sa Kalikupan (Concerned Cebuanos for the Environment) members gathered in front of UP Cebu yesterday to offer prayers for tomorrow’s second leg of the presidential debate.
Donning costumes depicting animals and plants, the group held blessing rites and placed flowers before the posters of the five presidential candidates.
Vince Cinches, oceans campaigner of Greenpeace Southeast Asia-Philippines, and Sis. Virgie Ligaray, chairperson of the Association of Women Religious of Cebu, said the group hoped the candidates will give due importance to environmental protection concerns.
Cinches said they would also like to remind the candidates that Cebuanos are vigilant and active in environment-related issues. “This is how strong Cebu is (and) we would like to use it as leverage that the candidates will look at it and then refer to our environmental initiatives,” he said.
Tomorrow, the presidential aspirants will be met by the sight of 2,000 volunteers in costumes that represent animals and plants.