Marcos Jr. claims largest audience in Cebu sortie

Thousands of people gather at the South Road Properties in Cebu City for the grand rally of presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his running mate Sara Duterte-Carpio on Monday, April 18. (PHOTO BY DALE ISRAEL/INQUIRER VISAYAS)

CEBU CITY, Cebu, Philippines —Presidential candidate and former Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is optimistic he will recover from the dismal defeat he suffered in Cebu in 2016, now that he has the support of several local officials, including Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia.

Marcos Jr., son of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was buoyed by the turnout of his grand rally with running mate, Davao Mayor Sara Duterte on Monday here.

“This is the largest rally in my entire campaign. I thank Cebu for the support and trust,” Marcos said in his speech.

The police earlier estimated that at least 300,000 people went to the rally on the Filinvest grounds located at the South Road Properties here.

According to Lt Col. Wilbert Parilla, deputy director for operations of the Cebu City Police Office, the 300,000 crowd estimate was based on the number of persons who went to the venue from 2 p.m. when a concert was held until the program ended at around 10 p.m.

Parilla said the size of the venue was only three hectares with a capacity of 120,000. But he added that many people spilled into the adjoining alleys.

“[To be clear], the 300,000 crowd estimate includes people who came to the venue from daytime to nighttime. It’s not that 300,000 persons were present during the main program. Included in the crowd estimate were those who went home before and during the program,” he said.

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