MANILA, Philippines — As the campaign trail hits the homestretch, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Friday night once again called on her cabalens in Pampanga to vote for the tandem of former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio in the May 9 polls.
Macapagal-Arroyo, who brokered the Marcos-Duterte tandem, is seeking the congressional seat for the 2nd district of Pampanga, also introduced Marcos as the next president of the country.
“Mahal kong cabalen (kababayan), Kapampangan mga kaibigan, sa ngalan ni Governor Delta Pineda, sa ngalan ni Vice Governor Nanay Baby Pineda, sa ngalan ng apat na congressmen ng Pampanga, sa ngalan ng dalawampung mayor ng Pampanga, ito na po ang susunod na Pangulo ng Republika ng Pilipinas, Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr,” Macapagal-Arroyo said.
Earlier this month, Macapagal-Arroyo made her support for Duterte-Carpio clear as she campaigned for her during her 75th pre-birthday celebration and asked Pampanga voters to give her a landslide win.
Two separate events were held in Lubao and Mexico towns to have a pre-celebration of the former president’s birthday and in both events, Macapagal-Arroyo wore a shirt with Duterte-Carpio’s face printed on it.
At that time, Macapagal-Arroyo did not explicitly campaign for Marcos. However, Marcos’ attendance during Macapagal-Arroyo’s birthday celebration in Quezon City made the endorsement clear.
During the Pampanga rally, Marcos thanked Macapagal-Arroyo as well as local officials backing his presidential bid. With Election Day nearing, Marcos appealed to his supporters to not leave him behind.
“Maraming-maraming salamat Pampanga sa napaka-init na salubong na inyong ibinigay sa UniTeam at sa tambalang Marcos at Duterte. Basta’t magiging totoo ‘yan, basta’t walang iwanan!” Marcos said.
In jest, Marcos also said he will send coffee to his supporters so that they would not sleep on Election Day, apparently alluding to his overnight loss in the 2016 vice presidential race to then-Camarines Rep. Leni Robredo, who is now his closes rival again — this time for the presidency.
It had been Marcos’ contention that he was cheated in the elections, citing that in the early hours of the counting of the votes, Marcos was in the lead. But then Robredo took over Marcos’ lead at around 3:30 a.m.
Marcos contested the results of the elections before the Supreme Court sitting as the Presidential Election Tribunal, which eventually junked the case.
“Walang iwanan dahil tayo ay nagkaisa na, totoo rin ‘yan, dapat siguro walang tulugan dahil alam naman natin ang daming mga nangyayari habang tayo ay natutulog, kayat magpapahanap ako ng katakot-takot na kape, ipapadala ko sa inyo para hindi na tayo matulog,” he added.
Meanwhile, Duterte-Carpio urged their supporters to work with them should they win to make their programs happen.
“Maraming salamat, mahal ko kayo. Mahalin natin ang Pilipinas! Kapag sinabi ng mga Kapampangan na panalo na ang Bisaya, malakas ang loob ko mananalo ako!” she said.