DU31: President-elect Rodrigo Duterte will be in Cebu City today for a thanksgiving celebration with Cebuanos who bestowed him over a million votes in the May 9 elections. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
Even if there is still a week to go before he assumes the highest position in the country, President-elect Rodrigo Duterte is already getting the treatment of a sitting president, with the watchful eyes of over a hundred members of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) trained on him as he visits Cebu today for a massive thanksgiving celebration.
Duterte, even as he admitted in a previous visit here about feeling “awkward” that so many PSG personnel were guarding him, will attend tonight’s open-air celebration amid security dictated by the PSG, to thank Cebuanos for their support in the last elections.
The President-elect got over a million votes in Cebu City and province in the May polls, over half a million more votes than his nearest rival, Mar Roxas of the Liberal Party, the erstwhile administration party.
Hundreds of law enforcers – PSG personnel assisted by local police and military forces, will be deployed today at the Sugbo grounds at the South Road Properties in Cebu City where at least 50,000 to 80,000 people are anticipated to attend the thanksgiving party dubbed as “DU31 (Duterte won).”
Duterte is expected to be at the venue between 8 p.m. to 9 p.m., according to the organizers of the “One Love, One Nation,” the free concert-cum-thanksgiving party for Duterte’s supporters in the last elections.
Prohibitions
The presence of the PSG means that the tight security measures will cover all of those who will attend the event.
For one, placards and banners are prohibited, as these will affect the line of sight of the PSG personnel securing Duterte, Doris Mongaya, who leads the event’s organizing team, said yesterday.
Drones will be barred from flying over the venue to take photos.
The event is open to the media but the President-elect will not allow interviews, she added.
Duterte was scheduled to give a speech but Mongaya said they do not know what he will talk about.
Those attending the celebration will also be barred from bringing big backpacks or bottled water into the venue. Bottled water will instead be sold inside at the Sugbo grounds by vendors accredited by PSG, added Mongaya.
Mongaya said that those attending the free concert should expect to be frisked by PSG members.
She explained backpacks large enough to contain sharp objects and even firearms or bombs would be prohibited.
“They (attendees) can bring those small ones (backpacks),” she added. “The bigger the bag, the longer it takes to check the items inside.”
Mongaya said umbrellas would be allowed in the venue since it might rain.
“Please don’t bring the items not allowed so as not to slow down the security check at the entrance of the venue,” Mongaya said.
She added supporters of the incoming President could go to the venue as early as 2 p.m. today, two hours before the start of the concert that would feature at least 20 performers.
This will be Duterte’s second time in Cebu after he won the presidency. The first was on June 7, where he met with over 200 key Cebuano supporters for a thanksgiving dinner at the Cebu Country Club.
No VIPs
Joy Tumulak, operations officer of the Cebu City Traffic Operations (CCTO), said there will be no road closures in areas near the concert venue but at least 50 personnel from CCTO will be deployed to manage the flow of vehicles at SRP.
At least 30 parking attendants will also help those supporters with vehicles to guide them to designated parking areas, he added.
Mongaya said they were not expecting important personalities to attend the celebration but they have prepared at least 800 seats in a cordoned area fronting the stage. The seats, she said, were reserved for Duterte’s campaign staff and political leaders from the different districts of Cebu, Bohol, Negros Island and Panay Island.
Asked if there are local officials expected in the celebration, Mongaya said only Toledo City Mayor John Henry “Sonny” Osmeña has signified his intention to attend the event scheduled to start at 4 p.m.
Three giant LED screens will be set up at the venue, two of which will be placed at the left and right sides of the stage, each measuring 40 x 20 feet, and elevated about 6 feet above the ground. The other LED screen will be placed near the audience.
Mongaya said the stage has a tent-like cover in case it would rain. But for the public, “it will be rain or shine for them,” she added.
She said the ground would not turn muddy should it rain since the venue’s ground had previously been covered with crushed stones.
The concert is also the venue for the #CALL4Change group to launch its Cebu Alliance for Change project, where pro-Duterte groups will undertake a commitment signing. The said groups will serve as a monitoring body to ensure that a pro-people agenda will be pushed under Duterte’s administration.
#CAll4Change is an alliance of the various groups that campaigned for Duterte in Cebu. It was initiated by the Duterte national campaign team led by Leoncio Evasco Jr., a former rebel priest turned mayor of Maribojoc town in Bohol. Evasco was picked by Duterte as his Secretary to the Cabinet.
Mongaya said they would set up a tent where forms would be available for those who would want to sign up as members of the #Call4Change group.
Thank you
Prior to the concert, a “Halad Pasalamat” will be conducted at Plaza Independencia from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. It will offer free medical and dental check up, legal consultation and notarization, pampering services such as free haircut and foot massage, and motorcycle tune-up.
These services are offered in partnership with the Philippine Statistics Authority, Department of Agriculture, Land Transportation Office, Philippine Postal Corporation, Government Service and Insurance System, Department of Foreign Affairs, Cebu City Government’s Department of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries, Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor, PhilHealth, Philippine Information Agency, Socialized Security System, Pilipinas Guardians International Inc. and Health Inc. Outpatient Services.
Meanwhile, sources revealed that before arriving at the concert venue, Duterte is reportedly scheduled to attend the wedding of the daughter of his friend, Cebuano businessman Ding Borja, at the Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa.