Duterte-Cayetano proclamation rally: Why in Tondo?

The tandem of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Alan Peter Cayetano will hold their proclamation rally in Tondo, Manila on February 9.

But why did the duo choose to hold their proclamation rally in a place often gripped by poverty and marred with rampant criminality?

“The choice of Tondo is to dramatize the flight of the urban poor,” Leoncio Evasco, the campaign manager of Duterte, told INQUIRER.net

Evasco said “Tondo has the biggest concentration of urban poor” in the Philippines.

Peter Lavina, head of Duterte’s media group, also said the proclamation rally in Tondo represents Duterte’s “mission” to “offer a greener pasture for our people.”

Symbolic

Cayetano said their proclamation rally in Tondo symbolizes the plight of many people from the provinces who came to Manila in search of a “better life.”

READ: Duterte and I will halve crime rate, vows Cayetano

“Ang Tondo kasi ang simbolismo ng paghahanap ng maraming mga taga Visayas at Mindanao ng better life kaya dito napadpad sa Metro Manila,” the senator said.

(Tondo symbolizes the search of a better life of people from Visayas and Mindanao who came to Metro Manila.)

Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano. INQUIRER MINDANAO FILE PHOTOS

READ: Duterte: Kill me if I fail to bust crime, corruption in 6 months

He said some who came to Manila have been successful but many still lived in poverty.

Tondo, he said, also symbolizes certain reputations the Duterte-Cayetano tandem wants to reform.

“It also represents where we want change to begin and how we want change to begin,” Cayetano said.

The proclamation rally will be held at the corner of Morga and Zamora streets at 7 p.m. but various activities will be held before the proclamation. IDL