Vice President Jejomar Binay. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

CEBU CITY—United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) Secretary General JV Bautista claimed that about 10,000 people were in attendance during UNA’s Visayas-wide launch held at the Cebu City Coliseum Friday morning.

READ: Binay leads UNA launch in vote-rich Cebu

The crowd, he said, was even bigger than the one they had during their Mindanao launch on Monday.

“Libo libo tayong nagsasama sama ngayong umaga. Kung ganyan, panalo na tayong UNA,” Vice President Jejomar Binay said during his speech.

(Thousands of us are gathered this morning. If that’s the case, we of UNA are already winners.)

Some allies no-show
However, while Binay and Bautista claimed success in their Visayas launch, only very few of their Cebu allies showed up during the gathering.

Of Cebu’s incumbent officials, only Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama and Toledo Mayor John Henry Osmeña shared the Cebu Coliseum stage with Binay.

Among members of the Garcia clan, only former Cebu City Mayor Alvin Garcia, cousin of former Cebu Governor and now 3rd district representative Gwen Garcia, was present. The former mayor is seeking election as Cebu City north district representative in the 2016 elections.

Part of the coliseum crowd also started to vacate their seats to go home while Binay delivered his 15-minute speech.

UNA’s Cebu launch lasted for about two hours and ended shortly before noontime. Doris C. Bongcac/RAM

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