Senior citizens gather around vice presidential candidate Sen. Bongbong Marcos during a campaign sortie in Tarlac province on Monday, March 28, 2016.
INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
TARLAC CITY—Vice presidential candidate Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Monday took his campaign to the province of Tarlac, the hometown of President Benigno Aquino III.
The son and namesake of the late dictator visited the Ilocano-speaking towns of San Manuel, Moncada, Paniqui and Camiling and met with the local officials and residents there.
In San Manuel, Marcos was welcomed by Mayor Benjamin Tesoro, a retired colonel and his classmate in the Scout Ranger training.
“He is a fellow Ilocano. We were together in my Scout Ranger training. Although we have boundaries in political parties, we have no boundaries in love for country,” Tesoro told the local officials and residents after the flag raising ceremony.
The mayor, however, is a member of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) which officially endorsed the tandem of Senators Grace Poe and Francis “Chiz” Escudero. He did not make it clear to the media if he was endorsing Marcos despite the warm welcome.
Meanwhile, Moncada Mayor Benito Aquino (not related to the president), another member of the NPC, said he was endorsing Poe and Marcos.
“We came into an agreement with the party the other day that we will support him… No need of explaining, but it was an agreement,” he told reporters.
“He is my fellow Ilocano. He is near to our province. What else?” The Aquino mayor said of Marcos.
Paniqui Mayor Miguel Cojuangco-Rivilla, a second cousin of the president and an independent candidate who is running for vice governor in the next elections, also expressed his support to Marcos, his longtime friend.
“He’s like my younger brother. Their eldest was my bestfriend so maybe that’s why the support is still there [although] it’s complicated,” Marcos said of Rivilla.
Camiling Mayor Neil Agustin, who claims to be a Marcos loyalist, openly endorsed the son and namesake of the late dictator. He is also a member of the NPC.
READ: Youth, loyalists enable Marcos to tie Escudero
“Bongbong is the son of an Ilocano. We are Ilocanos here in Camiling. Let us help him. Let us make him vice president,” he said before the hundreds of audience at the town’s sports center.
Marcos was welcomed by hugs and kisses from the residents who were supporting him. In his visits to the town halls and public markets, he reiterated his campaign narrative of national unity.
READ: Marcos on survey rise: Filipinos accept my message of unity
The senator, who takes pride in his experience in the local government, also promised local officials that they will be given a voice to the national government if he is elected vice president in the upcoming May national elections. RAM