EDITORIAL - Miting de avance

Following the big miting de avance that the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan staged at the Cebu City Sports Center last Sunday, it was the turn of the opposition Barug PDP-Laban to stage its own gathering as the final push for Monday’s elections.

Last Wednesday, a huge crowd gathered in Barangay San Nicolas for the Barug PDP-Laban’s miting de avance. According to the police estimate, at least 25,000 supporters showed up, occupying a long stretch of C. Padilla Street, Cebu City.

Meanwhile, in neighboring Talisay City on the same night, thousands showed up at the grand rally of Team Alayon of Mayor Eduardo Gullas and First District Representative Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas. The event was attended by re-electionist senators Cynthia Villar and Sonny Angara, and former senator Pia Cayetano.

In Danao City, re-electionist Senator Grace Poe graced the miting de avance of Bakud Party headed by re-electionist Mayor Ramonito Durano III and his son, congressional bet Red Durano. Opposing parties in the cities of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu are also conducting their own grand rallies as a last-ditch effort to gain public support.

As an eleventh-hour move, a miting de avance can be considered a measurement of how a candidate fared during the long stretch of the campaign period. If it draws a huge crowd, there is high chance a candidate and his party will win in the elections.

However, it is also hard to conclude the candidate’s winnability if we just based on the crowd. That is because there are those who would attend just for entertainment, having no plans to vote for the candidate at all.

Still, a miting de avance is a good barometer of a candidate’s chances. That is why there are those who pay their supporters to join their grand rally because, for them, mustering a large crowd means a show of force that would surely intimidate their political opponents.