President Marcos Senate bets invade ‘yellow’ turf

MANILA, Philippines — Although Iloilo City is considered a stronghold of the Liberal Party, Sen. Imee Marcos and her partymates in the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas hope to sway voters in one of the vote-rich areas in Western Visayas.

Iloilo City has around 319,000 voters, while Iloilo province has about 1.6 million.

“Others told me that I must be desperate because I keep coming back here even though I may not have votes here. People are voting ‘yellow’ there, they told me. But I don’t believe in that. Loyalty is also earned,” she said. Iloilo gave her 230,000 votes in in 2019.

In 2022, Iloilo was one of the 15 provinces where LP standard-bearer Leni Robredo won. The former vice president got 579,525 votes, while President Marcos only got 374,144.

In the 2016 vice presidential race, Marcos only got 127,434 votes from Ilonggos, while Robredo got 706,052.

President Marcos continues swipe

President Marcos again took a swipe at senatorial candidates from rival parties on Thursday, despite his party Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas’ previous commitment to shy away from negative campaigning.

During the second leg of Alyansa’s proclamation rally held in Iloilo City, the President attested to the character of his senatorial bets, saying none of them were ever involved in the previous administration’s controversial Oplan Tokhang.

“None of our candidates were ever involved in pocketing public funds. None of them sucked up to China and clapped their hands whenever our Coast Guard is water bombed by Chinese vessels and the catches of our fishermen are seized,” he added.

According to the President, his 12 candidates – Benhur Abalos, Abby Binay, Pia Cayetano, Ping Lacson, Lito Lapid, Imee Marcos, Manny Pacquiao, Ramon Revilla Jr., Tito Sotto, Francis Tolentino, Erwin Tulfo and Camille Villar – have clean records, that’s why it’s easier for him to campaign for them.

Revilla was cleared of graft and plunder in connection with the pork barrel scam. He has ignored a Sandiganbayan order to return P124.5 million to the government. His aide Richard Cambe was convicted by the Sandiganbayan and died in prison.

Based on estimates by the Philippine National Police, citing reports from the Iloilo City Operations Center, around 30,000 people were present during the rally as of 5 p.m., lower than the earlier estimate of 50,000.

'Alyansa' bets too woo Davao del Norte

Meanwhile, the adminstration slate on Saturday, February 15, brings its act to Davao del Norte, where it is banking on the province's strong support for President Marcos in the 2022 elections.

The Carmen Municipal Park and Plaza will serve as the venue for the party's Mindanao campaign kickoff.

In the 2022 elections, President Marcos secured 470,000 votes out of 577,781 registered voters in Davao del Norte.

“Just as they stood behind PBBM, we believe our Mindanaoan brothers and sisters will back our Senate slate, which shares his vision for progress,” said Navotas City Rep. Toby Tiangco, Alyansa’s campaign manager.

“These are proven leaders with the experience and track record to serve the Filipino people,” he added.

These regional launches, according to Tiangco, reflect the administration’s commitment to economic growth, infrastructure expansion and social welfare programs.

The next stop is Pasay City, the launching pad for Alyansa’s National Capital Region campaign leg. -- With a report from Philstar.com