AS ELECTIONS draw near, Cebu City candidates employ their own tricks and strategies to woo their constituents to vote for them.
Team Rama candidates either sing or dance in front of the crowd during their sorties aside from talking about their platforms. They also give away T-shirts and foldable fans.
Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) candidates, on the other hand, focus on their speeches where they also highlight the shortcomings of the current administration aside from pushing their own platforms of government.
Last Tuesday during a BO-PK mini-rally at Barangay Kasambagan, CDN saw supporters wearing yellow shirts scampering to get a share of the KFC food packs from multicabs arriving at Sitio Univille for the event.
Each pack contained a chicken burger, mashed potato and a brownie. Bottles of mineral water were also distributed.
Like sorties in previous elections, the BO-PK sortie last Tuesday ended with a fireworks display just as the candidates, led by the group’s founder and former Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña, and their supporters sang one of the group’s jingles.
All BO-PK candidates in the north were present during the sortie. These included incumbent north district Rep. Raul del Mar, and candidates for councilor, Mary Ann De Los Santos and Nida Cabrera.
On the other hand, Team Rama’s pulong-pulong in Barangay Camputhaw last Monday evening showed not just the candidates, but also their family members and relatives joining them onstage.
Mayor Rama, in his speech, told the people that last Monday evening’s sortie was his “most emotional night” campaigning since he started as a politician because his eldest daughter, Micheline, attended a sortie for the first time.
“I didn’t know my daughter will be there. And Edu also. All of them were there. Showing generations, my bloodline,” Rama said in an interview after the event.
Rama gave a speech, then called all Team Rama candidates present to dance onstage with him to the tune of his campaign jingle.
Before the sortie ended, Rama also sang his rendition of Martin Nievera’s song “Kahit Isang Saglit.”