CEBU CITY—President Aquino and Vice President Jejomar Binay are consolidating their forces in the vote-rich Cebu, less than two months before the filing of the certificate of candidacies for the 2016 presidential elections.
Binay, standard-bearer of the opposition United Nationalist Alliance, was in Cebu for a two-day sortie starting on Sunday.
President Aquino is leading a gathering of Liberal Party (LP) members at the Cebu Coliseum in Cebu City on Monday afternoon where he is expected to introduce LP standard-bearer, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas.
Binay said it was just a coincidence that his sorties in Cebu occur almost the same day as the President’s visit.
The Vice President said he planned to talk to businessmen and local leaders during his two-day visit to directly ask them issues that concern them.
President Aquino was expected to arrive in Cebu before 10 a.m. on Monday. He would be accompanied by 11 Cabinet secretaries.
Mr. Aquino was scheduled to inspect the Mactan Circumferential Road and the Sergio
Osmeña Boulevard before proceeding to the project briefing of Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Rogelio Singson at the Equipment Management Division of the DPWH’s office in Pier 3 in Cebu City.
Roxas, on the other hand, would be at Cebu Normal University at 10:30 a.m. to spearhead a “Daang Matuwid People’s Dialogue.”
He would then join the President at the 5,000-capacity Cebu Coliseum for the LP event dubbed “Gathering of Friends.”
Based on the press briefing with the Philippine Information Agency Central Visayas (PIA-7) on Sunday, local officials from Negros Oriental, Siquijor, Bohol, Leyte and Samar would show their support to Roxas at the Cebu Coliseum.
Rachelle Nessia of PIA-7 said the LP event at the Cebu Coliseum would be similar to that of the LP’s gathering at Club Filipino where representatives from different sectors gave their own testimonies for Roxas.
Expected to talk at the Cebu Coliseum were representatives from the farmer sector, the business process and outsourcing industry, senior citizens, single parents, and the youth.
While LP is gathering its forces at the Cebu Coliseum, Binay will be 50 kilometers away in Toledo City to meet with his supporters and leaders there.
Cebu is one of the vote-rich provinces in the country with 2,596,543 registered voters in 2013, according to the Commission on Elections.
Although President Aquino and Roxas won in Cebu during the presidential elections in 2010, Binay was optimistic he would perform better in Cebu next year.
He said Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama promised to help him in the city. In the province, he vowed to “try hard again” to gain the support of the people.
This early, Binay wants to make his presence felt in Cebu.
Like in his previous visits, Binay had boodle fights this time in Barangays Punta Engaño in Lapu-Lapu City and Barrio Luz, Camputhaw, Calamba, Mambaling, and Sawang Calero in Cebu City.
Binay made a side trip to a mall in Lapu-Lapu City where he stayed for 40 minutes.
He ate “halo-halo” at a fastfood chain there. Mall goers also had the chance to take their selfies with Binay.