Ilonggos back UniTeam

MANILA, Philippines — Former Liberal Party members in Iloilo have switched sides and are now supporting Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Members of the Garin, Tupas and Biron political clans joined the campaign rally of Marcos and running mate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte last Thursday night and committed support to the tandem dubbed as “BBM-Sara UniTeam.”

Among them were incumbent Reps. Braeden John Biron (4th district, NP) and Janette Garin (1st district, NP) and Raul Tupas (5th district).

While all of them are now members of the Nacionalista Party, they were members of the Liberal Party during the previous administration.

Garin served as health secretary in the previous administration and is currently senior deputy minority leader in the House of Representatives.

Thousands of Ilonggos flocked to the UniTeam grand rally at the Barotac Nuevo football field, surprising organizers since Iloilo is considered opposition territory.

Last Wednesday, the Marcos-Duterte tandem also gathered thousands of supporters in their campaign rally in Bacolod.

Meanwhile, senatorial candidate Harry Roque claimed yesterday there will be no dictatorship under a Marcos presidency, as he dismissed the notion as mere “imagined fears.”

Roque, a former presidential spokesman, said the anti-Marcos groups should stop their “paranoia” since institutional safeguards and international mechanisms are in place to deter any sitting Philippine president from ever placing the entire nation under martial rule.

He explained that the 1987 Constitution provides stringent legislative and judicial oversight related to the country’s declaration and imposition of martial law.