Presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe buys vegetable at the Talisay Public Market in Cebu during a visit with running mate ,Sen. Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero. Photo by Rick Nicolas (Poe-Chiz Media Bureau)
Vice presidential candidate Francis “Chiz” Escudero said they believed it was still a toss-up on who would win the Cebu race with its 2.7 million voters considering that major political clans in the province were supporting four different presidential bets.
“We’re still positive of getting the Cebu vote,” said Escudero who was eyeing three—Districts I (North Cebu City), II (South Cebu City), and V (Danao City)—out of Cebu’s seven districts as their home turfs for the election.
Presidential candidate Grace Poe and Escudero are pinning their hopes on the Durano family in the battle for Cebu, specifically Cebu Rep. Joseph “Ace” Durano, their campaign manager.
Escudero downplayed as unrealistic former Government Service Insurance System General Manager Winston Garcia’s promise that One Cebu to deliver one million votes to Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte much like it did in 2004 when then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo won.
In 2004, Escudero pointed out that Arroyo was able to unite all of Cebu’s major political leaders to rally behind her.
But this year, Escudero said Cebu’s political leaders were supporting at least four different presidential candidates: Garcia’s One Cebu for Duterte, Duranos for Poe, former Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia for Vice President Jejomar Binay, and Cebu Gov. Hilario Perez Davide III for Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas.
Happy for Digong
In an interview during the launch of their campaign headquarters, “Bahay ni Poe,” along Gorordo Avenue in Cebu City, Poe said she was happy for Duterte for getting the support of One Cebu.
She said that part of the campaign was to get the support of political leaders across the country as she pointed out that she herself had been steadily getting firm political backing in the past few weeks especially since the Supreme Court had cleared the way for her run for the presidency.
Poe also shrugged off the series of fake campaign materials and disinformation that tended to bring her down or boost the political stock of her rivals such as bogus endorsements and fake surveys.
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