Bongbong reiterates unity platform

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential aspirant former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is confident that he and his running mate, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio can unite the country should they win in the May 9 elections.

Addressing his supporters during a rally at Arca South open grounds in Taguig City last Sunday night, Marcos stressed that he and Duterte-Carpio would hurdle the COVID-19 pandemic and other major problems that the country is facing through their call for national unity.

“(I) and Inday Sara teaming up has a very beautiful meaning. It symbolizes our call for unity. Because if you would think about it, I came from the North and Inday Sara came from Davao in Mindanao. If we were able to unite despite coming from two different sides of the Philippines, then I think we can also unite the Filipino people,” Marcos said in Filipino.

The son and namesake of the late dictator noted that the warm support that he and Duterte-Carpio has been receiving during their campaign rallies only shows that the majority of Filipinos long for peace and unity.

“I can see the smiles on your faces, I can hear your calls, they give us the assurance that you want our message of unity. It is in the nature of Filipinos to love and care for our fellowmen. We Filipinos are not fond of conflicts, we are not war freaks,” Marcos said.

Marcos has been trumpeting his “pagkakaisa” or unity platform since the start of the campaign, but has been elusive to queries from the media on how he can promote healing and reconciliation with the victims of human rights abuses during martial law under the regime of his father, who was ousted from Malacañang through the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution.

Marcos has also been mum on the issue of massive corruption during his father’s regime and has yet to answer queries about his family’s billions of pesos worth of unpaid real estate taxes.

Duterte-Carpio said that if she and Marcos win on May 9, they will put aside political colors and instead “address the pandemic with dispatch and create more jobs and livelihood opportunities for Filipinos.”

“First in our agenda is unity. If you choose us on May 9 to be your next leaders, we will steer you to recovery (from the pandemic) and prosperity. We will set aside political colors,” Duterte-Carpio added.

As this developed, a group of artists supporting Marcos launched a music video highlighting the message of unity.

In a post on his Twitter page, Marcos said the music video titled “Nandito Na” was voluntarily created by several artists, which include Von de Guzman, Cris Villonco, Kris Lawrence, Charlene Ramos, Jackie Sentinerial, JP Bautista, June Gonzaga, Luningning San Jose, Jonathan Velasco, Miguel Miñana, Angelo Razul, Gelbert A. and Alex Cortez.

Alternative sources for animal feeds

Meanwhile, Marcos said he would support further research on alternative raw materials for animal feeds in a bid to lower the price of pork if he wins as president.

“Our dependence on imported ingredients for our local animal feed production is one of the reasons why the price of pork products remains high in the country. Reducing or eliminating this would ultimately lead to reduced farm gate prices,” he explained in a press statement yesterday. – Evelyn Macairan