A helicopter drops confetti on the crowd attending Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s miting de avance at the Sugbo grounds at the South Road Properties. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)
They came in the thousands, holding Philippine flags and wearing their red and blue T-shirts, the colors of presidential candidate Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, to the South Road Properties (SRP) to join Duterte’s miting de avance yesterday.
Rey Duterte Abad, said he estimated the crowd at the Sugbo grounds to be at least 60,000.
But Supt. George Ylanan, deputy director of the Cebu City Police office, said he estimated the crowd at 4,500 to 5,000.
He said that the crowd filled up only 1,000-square meters to 1,500-square meters of the 9-hectare area while the others were scattered in other parts of the venue.
The event organizers also pushed through with the planned simultaneous singing of the national anthem at gatherings for Duterte in Luneta in Manila, Cebu and Davao.
Abad, however, said that they will not pursue their bid to challenge the World Record for the number of people simultaneously singing the national anthem.
He said it was difficult for them to get an exact number of the people attending the event.
After the singing of the national anthem, red and blue confetti were thrown at the Sugbo crowd from a helicopter at past 5 p.m.
Sebastian Duterte, son of Mayor Duterte, said that he is not 100 percent sure that his father will win.
“I believe that anything can happen, but I support my father as a citizen of this country not just as his son,” Sebastian said.
A Duterte volunteer also reminded the crowd how to vote during the elections.
Then the boisterous and lively Duterte crowd were entertained by several bands, who Abad said volunteered to play during the event.
Winston Garcia, who is running for governor in Cebu, also showed his support and spoke before the crowd.
The traffic was also manageable at the SRP.
“Normal ra nga mo hinay ang dagan sa trapiko kay daghan ang ni U-turn sa may Filinvest (area) padung sa Sugbo grounds,” Joy Tumalak, Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (CITOM) operations chief said.
Abad said that the event will end at 9 p.m. with a fireworks display.