Marcos, admin bets woo voters in Duterte bailiwick

CARMEN, Davao del Norte— President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and the administration's Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas senatorial slate wooed voters in Davao del Norte—a known bailiwick of former President Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Sara Duterte.

Present at the campaign rally in Carmen Municipal Park and Plaza on Saturday were former Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos, outgoing Makati City Mayor Abby Binay, Senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., Lito Lapid, and Francis Tolentino, ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo, and former senators Manny Pacquiao and Vicente “Tito” Sotto III.

Senators Imee Marcos and Pia Cayetano, former Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, and Las Piñas Rep. Camille Villar skipped the event.

This is the third campaign sortie of the administration slate after Ilocos Norte's Laoag City and Iloilo which are the vote-rich provinces in Luzon and the Visayas.

Mindanao vote

In a press conference before the campaign rally, Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas campaign manager and Navotas City Rep. Toby Tiangco said the goal of the administration's senatorial slate was to present their platform to the people, regardless of venue.

"Ang goal talaga is mapaabot sa bawat Pilino, ideally, as much as possible, 'yung programa ng Alyansa at 'yung plataporma ng bawat kandidato. No matter where the region is, the goal will be the same " Tiangco said.

"Ang pagpaliwanag naming ng aming plataporma is not whether we are positive or not doon sa lugar na ‘yon," he added.

Sotto was confident that the administration slate would get votes from Mindanao after they laid out their platform.

"Maganda ang chances dito sa Mindanao. I’m not saying that we will win or all of us will win, but I have said, lahat kami maganda ang chances naming sa Mindanao taking Mindanao as a whole," Sotto said.

Tulfo stressed that even though they are not endorsed by the Dutertes, their track record showed that they performed well during the former president's term.

"Hindi po ‘yan dahil sa apelyido, hindi po sa pangalan, hindi po kung ano-ano, sikat siya... Lahat po ‘yan na nakikita niyo na 12 na ‘yan did something under the PRRD administration," Tulfo said.

First time

Abalos and Binay, meanwhile, admitted that they wanted to campaign in Mindanao because this was the first time that they were running for the Senate.

"Dahil hindi ako tiga-Mindanao, tayo po ay nanliligaw. That’s the point, the reason kung bakit po kami bumababa sa lahat ng regions and kailangan pa namin puntahan ‘yong mga lugar na hindi ka malakas... you go out of your comfort zone because gusto mong kumuha ng boto doon sa lugar na ‘yon," Binay said.

"I just do hope na sana po ay makilala po ang karamihan sa amin ‘no. Siguro amongst everyone ako ‘yong hindi masyadong kakilala dahil bago lang po ako tumakbo bilang senador," Abalos added.
 

Energy problems

Addressing the specific concerns in Davao del Norte, the administration senatorial slate raised their suggestions on how to address the energy problems in the Davao Region.

Tolentino raised the need to welcome the entry of more electric cooperatives that would cover the areas that were still having problems with energy.

Tulfo reiterated his call to review all electric cooperative franchises.

"Kung hindi sila nagpe-perform then kailangang tapusin na. Then ibigay siguro doon sa mga power companies na who can really deliver," he said.

Binay raised the need to tap renewable energy to improve the power supply in Mindanao.

"Ang aking adbokasiya, which is renewable energy, so 2% lang ang solar, 2% lang ang biomass, maliit lang din ang hydroelectric and those are untapped potential. But Mindanao can be a source for the solution to the demand for power. So walang magiging progreso sa isang lugar kung walang kuryente," she said.

Meanwhile, Pacquiao believes that a nuclear power plant would address the energy issues of the country.

"Dapat mayroon tayong talagang sarili nating nuclear power plant like ‘yung sa Bataan kasi kung ganito nang ganito tayo, talagang mabagal pa sa pagong ‘yong magiging development ng ating bansa," he said. — VAL, GMA Integrated News

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