MANILA, Philippines — A mammoth crowd of 80,000 attended the “Isigaw Mo, Isko!” concert-rally on Sunday as Aksyon Demokratiko presidential candidate Isko Moreno Domagoso continued to go directly to the people like what he did in his two-day provincial sortie in Cebu.
As early as 2 pm, some 25,000 people were already assembled along the stretch of T.M. Kalaw Street particularly at the corner of Maria Orosa where the huge stage was located for the concert of several artists and bands who volunteered their services for free.
The “Isigaw Mo, Isko!” concert-rally was led by singer-musician Jimmy Bondoc, who was the main organizer of the event that saw big-name entertainers such as Luke Mejares, Aia De Leon of Imago, Shamrock, South Border, Soapdish, This Band and Nina.
Between 6 pm to 7 pm, the crowd ballooned to 65,000 and peaked at 80,000 when Moreno was already on the stage talking directly to the people in his usual question-and-answer format similar to what he did in past town hall meetings in the provinces.
“Kumusta na kayo? Wala tayong atrasan! Tuluy-tuloy ang laban! Ano ang sigaw niyo?,” Moreno shouted as the fired-up crowd began chanting his name “Isko!Isko!Isko!”
In Cebu province, back-to-back concert-rallies were also held in Lapu-Lapu City on Friday where 35,000 Cebuanos trooped to the Mactan Shrine were the “Bilis Kilos Iskoncert-Rally” was held with Mocha Uson and Moreno’s actor-entertainer son Joaquin Domagoso leading the list of bands and entertainers that included J-Blaque, MakII, RKTeq, Ruzz Furio, Kyle Zagado, RjayBulls, Freshe Christine, Super Renan, Jeofre C and Richie Wagas.
This was followed by another free concert on Saturday at the Toledo City Sports Center parking lot attended by 20,000 people topbilled by local Cebuano bands like Missing Filemon, Range 999, Aggressive Audio, Oh! Caraga, Kurt Fick, Jerika Teodorico, Jacky Chang and Emping.
Both Cebu concert-rallies were organized by the group of Cebu 3rd District Congressman and Deputy Speaker Pablo John “PJ” Garcia, who has directly endorsed Moreno as his presidential candidate.
In an ambush interview on the sideline of the “Isigaw Mo, Isko” concert-rally, Moreno admitted that he has been overwhelmed by the kind of support given him by people from all walks of life during his campaign rallies that further strengthened his resolve in his presidential campaign.
“But then again, we continue to reach as many kilometers as much as possible katulad ng nangyari sa Cebu kahapon at nung isang araw, wow parang kahit saan kami magpunta nao-overwhelm kami because if you look at the numbers the way you’re asking me about those data being presented sa general public parang hindi nagre-reflect sa tunay na sitwasyon sa baba sa kalsada. And as you all know, what we’re seeing a group of thousand, a group of hundreds or tens of thousands of people are unique individuals in a different geography,” Moreno told reporters.
The 47-year-old presidential candidate stated in recent interviews that the tens of thousands of people that he directly met and shook hands with in various provincial sorties do not jibe with pre-election survey results made by major polling firms that tend to show his numbers at a far third from the frontrunner.
The Manila city mayor also admitted that with the elections fast approaching, he is feeling tense as one will never know what’s going to be the result of the polls until the final vote has been counted.
“So, ibig sabihin hindi dalahan at lipatan ng mga supporters, these are unique people and we’re very happy nao-overwhelm kami nina Samira Gutoc, John Castriciones, Carl Balita, Jopet, Doc Willie and ni Mocha parang wow,” Moreno said.
Moreno described the 80,000 crowd in the Manila concert-rally as 80 percent coming from Metro Manila and the remaining 20 percent from as far as Central Luzon and Southern Luzon where the Aksyon Demokratiko presidential bet is faring well in surveys.
“Today Sunday what you saw here is about 80% of that is from Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Southern Luzon volunteers and supporters. Ang maganda rito wala silang gastos so parang it’s a family day after 2 years of lockdown, of uncertainty. So parang unwind so this is a refresher in their hearts and minds and as you heard tinanong ko naman sila, pwede na tayong magpahinga, sabi nila tuloy ang laban. so nakakatuwa so that is gonna happen in the next 29 days we will continue what we’re doing to go directly to the people,” Moreno explained.
Moreno said the mammoth crowd in Manila is similar to what he experienced during recent campaign sorties in the Zamboanga Peninsula (Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, and Zamboanga Sibugay) and Cebu province. He said is also looking forward to visiting more provinces and cities in the coming days and weeks as they continue to go around Mindanao, Visayas and Luzon.
“Yung sa Lapu-Lapu City nga nagulat ako kahit yata karayom pagka-hinulog mo hindi magkakasya tapos yun umulan na naman sa Toledo, ganun din hindi rin umalis ang tao. So nao-overwhelm kami. So, what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna continue to reach certain geography to reach many people as possible and go straight to the people” Moreno said.
Moreno told reporters that the Manila concert-rally provided him the opportunity to be with his family so the people can see for themselves how ordinary and normal they are. Moreno’s wife Dynee, daughter Frances and son Joaquin are actively campaigning for Moreno.
“Syempre naman, ikaw bilang mamamayan at least makilala mo mga anak ko, kung gaano sila kanormal, look at them. At importante rin yun na makita ng taumbayan na yung mga myembro ng pamilya ko wala sa gobyerno, hindi opisyal, kumbaga for purposes of being sensitive to you being mamamayan na hindi natin aabusuhin yung pagkakataong binigay sa atin na magpakasasa yung pamilya natin so parang ngayon officially alam nyo na kung sino yung members of the family I have 5 kids and one wife,” Moreno said