Duterte welcomes One Cebu support, but is mum on backing Garcia for gov
Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
TAGBILARAN CITY—Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte welcomed the support of the One Cebu party of the influential Garcia family who promised him a one million-vote edge, but he was mum on whether he would endorse its gubernatorial candidate Winston Garcia.
“You know, I welcome the support from the Garcias and the One Cebu members. You know, in every election you don’t just count votes but the support you get from the people,” Duterte said.
Duterte said he was informed by sources in One Cebu that they voted unanimously to support his candidacy.
But asked when he would endorse Garcia, he said he didn’t know yet.
After dropping its support for Vice President and United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) standard-bearer Jejomar Binay, One Cebu endorsed the presidential bid of Duterte over the weekend and promised to deliver a winning margin of one million votes.
It was not clear in the One Cebu statement if the support for Duterte extended to his running mate,
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano.
“I think, yeah,” was Duterte’s response when asked if One Cebu was also supporting Cayetano.
Mayor Leoncio Evasco Jr. of Maribojoc town in Bohol, Duterte’s campaign manager, said the endorsement would happen after formal talks with Garcia.
“When? I don’t know. At the proper time,” said Evasco.
Phenomenal
Evasco was with Duterte at a rally in the capital city of Tagbilaran on Sunday night that was described here as phenomenal due to the number of people in attendance.
At least 30,000 people started to converge on CPG Avenue corner
- Grupo Street at 3 p.m., three hours before the scheduled activity.
The crowd doubled by 6 p.m., something unexpected considering that Bohol is a bailiwick of the Liberal Party (LP).
According to an official of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) in Bohol, endorsing Garcia would require a long process.
“Garcia could not be endorsed because he was not a PDP-Laban member,” said Dr. Doloreich Dumaluan, deputy secretary general of PDP-Laban for Visayas.
“It’s a long process before he can be endorsed,” he added.
Part of the process is to publicly acknowledge the certificate of nomination and acceptance to PDP-Laban, said Dumaluan, PDP-Laban candidate for mayor of Panglao town, Bohol.
Duterte and Cayetano were warmly welcomed by Boholanos during their sorties in Bohol on Sunday.
They arrived in Ubay town past 3 p.m. and were greeted by a crowd of at least 10,000 in the town’s gymnasium.
Chanting crowds
From Ubay, they proceeded to the capital city about 113 km away.
They arrived past 6 p.m. and were welcomed by a crowd of at least 60,000 most of them had been at the venue as early as 3 p.m.
Residents lined the streets chanting “Duterte, Duterte,” as the mayor looked out the car window, waving and greeting them.
The rally in Tagbilaran ended at 9:30 p.m. but Duterte and Cayetano proceeded to nearby Panglao town for another rally where at least 20,000 people were waiting for them.
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