Zubiri gets rousing welcome in Bukidnon
MANOLO FORTICH, Bukidnon – Despite overcast skies and rain showers, residents stood by the Sayre National Highway here, waving small green flag and banners to welcome resigned Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri.
Zubiri, who stepped down from his post last week amid allegations that he won because the election results were rigged, returned to his home province to personally thank the people who supported him when he ran for senator in 2007.
Most of his supporters wore green t-shirts and carried hand-written posters that expressed words of pride and encouragement for Zubiri, popularly known here as the “Golden Boy of Bukidnon.”
Resident Juanita Revelleza said what Zubiri did was a very humbling act.
“There is hope for the Filipinos and that is in the person of Migz Zubiri,” Revelleza said.
Another resident who supported Zubiri since he ran for congressman in 1998, expressed excitement about seeing the politician in person. But Igot Gondolino also expressed sadness, saying Zubiri “could still do more.”
In contrast to Zubiri’s warm welcome in Bukidnon, residents of Cagayan de Oro City seemed cold to Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel’s assumption of his position as senator. Although the Pimentels are from Cagayan de Oro, some residents feel the Pimentels have abandoned their bailiwick and that they did not have any political clout in the province.
Zubiri beat Pimentel in the 2007 senatorial elections in Cagayan de Oro.
With regards to Pimentel’s plan of taking his oath in Mati City, in Davao Oriental, where he placed second among the senatorial candidates in the 2007 polls, residents feel that there is no love lost between them and the new senator. Many Cagay-anons feel that the Pimentels have no constant political presence in the province.
In Wednesday’s homecoming, Zubiri reiterated his support for Pimentel.
“I believe that what happened was nothing personal. I will support him because he is also from Mindanao and I am hoping that in the next elections, we could both be elected so there will be more voices in Mindanao,” Zubiri said.
Pimentel will not be penniless when he sits as senator because, according to Zubiri, his budget for 2011 has not yet been released.
The former senator said that his budget last year was used for the “One Town, One Project ni Migz Zubiri,” wherein each barangay (village) in Bukidnon had a P200,000 allocation, and each town in Misamis Oriental receiving from P500,000 to P1 million.
