Presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte’s Hugpong ng Pagbabago entered into a political alliance with Eastern Visayas’-based Tingog Sinirangan, a party-list group, and Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrat on Wednesday (Nov.7) held at the Tacloban City Convention Center. Also present were some of the senatorial candidates being supported by the alliance.
TACLOBAN CITY – Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte and her regional party, Hugpong ng Pagbabago, have formed an alliance with the Tingog Sinirangan, a regional party-list group in Eastern Visayas, on Wednesday.
Duterte said the alliance with Tingog Sinirangan as well as with Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats, headed by its national president, former Leyte congressman Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, would endorse candidates, particularly those running for the Senate, who are supportive of the administration of her father, President Duterte.
“We want to establish an alliance with them so we can push a similar senatorial line-up for the 2019 elections,” she said in an ambush interview following her speech before a crowd of around 6,000 at the Tacloban City Convention Center.
The alliance, she said, was committed to support and endorse the senatorial candidacies of 14 candidates.
Senatorial candidates were present during the launching of the alliance
They were Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos, former senator Jinggoy Estrada, Maguindanao Rep. Zajid Mangundadatu, Dr. Willie Ang, former presidential top aide, Christopher “Bong” Go, and former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque.
Bacoor Mayor Lani Mercado was also in the launching to represent her husband, detained former senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla, who is running for senator.
Mayor Duterte, who spoke in Cebuano and English, almost forgot to mention Roque until an aide whispered to her about his being missed in the list.
“Sorry sir,” she said and the crowd reacted wildly.
She asked the people present during the event to support these candidates by voting them into office.
“We are endorsing 14 candidates but we only need 12 (senators). So it’s up to you who will be your 12. We will just present the 14 candidates which you can choose from in your line-up,” she said in her speech.
Also present were candidates of Tingog Sinirangan led by Rep. Yedda Romualdez of Leyte’s 1st district who was running as the first nominee of the party-list group as her husband, Martin was poised to take over her post, a position he used to hold for three consecutive terms.
Before she attended the political gathering, Mayor Duterte offered a wreath at the Yolanda Memorial Monument, located inside the compound of the convention center, where the names of the 2,200 people from the city, who perished in the supertyphoon were, written./lb