Close to 1,000 supporters of the Garcia-led One Cebu party and presidential aspirant Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte converged in a general assembly tonight in Cebu City.
Emilio Mario “Lito” Osmeña, former governor and one of the first influential political figures in Cebu to announce support for Duterte, said he was happy that the Philippines would soon prosper in the hands of his presidential bet.
“I am not here for Digong because I know he is already president. I am here for you, Cebuanos,” he said at the gathering at the White Gold House Restaurant in Cebu City.
Present are One Cebu chairman and gubernatorial bet Winston Garcia, Cebu third district Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia, Pablo John Garcia, and former Deputy House Speaker Pablo “Pabling” Garcia. Also present are One Cebu vice gubernatorial bet Nerissa Soon-Ruiz, One Cebu-allied mayors, and the party’s local bets from all over the province.
Osmeña said the whole nation and the whole world are at war against “the biggest scourge that is terrorism in the form of illegal drugs.”
The former governor earlier said that he supported Duterte because he believed the mayor could put an end to the drug menace in the Philippines.
“We will defeat all our enemies in Cebu. Digong is already assured of the presidency,” said Osmeña.
The 77-year-old Osmeña left immediately after his speech. He said he would not wait for Duterte to arrive at the event because he knows Malacañang will “speak Bisaya” soon.
Duterte was expected to arrive shortly before 11 p.m. from a campaign sorite in Aklan, according to organizers. His running mate, Sen. Allan Peter Cayetano, arrived past 10 p.m.
The program started around 6:30 p.m. Supporters had dinner at the venue and were entertained by several song numbers and video presentations.
One Cebu held a grand assembly at the same venue last year, where local candidates were introduced to supporters before the filing of their respective certificates of candidacy in October.
While waiting for Duterte to arrive, supporters listened to several speeches from local aspirants.
One Cebu announced its support to Duterte early this month, a few weeks after it cut ties with the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) and dropped its standard-bearer, Vice President Jejomar Binay.
The local party cut ties with UNA because the latter allegedly cavorted with their opponents as well as conducted sorties all over the province without coordinating with One Cebu leaders.
When One Cebu formally announced support for Duterte, Garcia promised to deliver one million Cebuano votes for him.
Prior to the announcement, most One Cebu-allied mayors were already in favor of Duterte.
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.
