MAASIN CITY, Southern Leyte – LOCAL officials of this province on Saturday reiterated their overwhelming support for the UniTeam presidential-vice presidential tandem of former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.
They predicted that the BBM-Sara team would win at least 80 percent of the votes in the province on May 9.
“For BBM-Sara, 80 percent ang majority natin dito,” Gov. Damian Mercado said in an interview after addressing a mammoth crowd that attended the UniTeam rally at Maasin City Terminal.
During his speech, Mercado apologized for Marcos’ absence in the rally due to bad weather.
For his part, Marcos also apologized to the people, local officials, and organizers for his failure to make it in the rally after his flight to Maasin City was cancelled due to bad weather.
“Once again, ipinapaabot ko sa inyong lahat ang pagbati at kahit na nagkaganito na hindi tayo natuloy, sana hindi kayo makakalimot at hindi magsawa sa inyong pagsuporta at pagpapahayag ng tiwala sa UniTeam, sa tambalan ng Marcos at Duterte. Maraming-maraming salamat sa tiwalang ipinakita na at ipagpatuloy natin ang ating ginagawa hanggang magtagumpay,” Marcos said.
“Pipilitan nating makagawa pa ng isang event na magkikita tayo at makapunta sa Maasin, hintayin na lamang natin, in the meantime, my apologies to all of you na naghintay ng matagal at naghanda. I’ll make it up to you, babawi ako sa naging problema natin, maraming-maraming salamat,” Marcos added.
Mercado said 17 of Southern Leyte’s 18 town mayors, plus the mayor of Maasin City, and majority of barangay chairmen are supporting the UniTeam tandem.
For his part, Vice Gov. Christopherson “Coco” Yap said they have to help Marcos and Duterte because they consider them as Leyteños.
“Ever since kasi, taga sa amin eh, sino pa ba magtutulungan, kami-kami din. Taga-Leyte silang dalawa. So our hearts, our love, and support are nasa kanila talaga, nasa dalawa, nasa tandem na BBM-Sara. So si BBM and Sara can expect na majority ‘yung makukuha nila dito sa Southern Leyte,” he said.
Marcos’ mother, former First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos, is from Leyte, while Duterte’s father, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, was born in Maasin.
The rally in Maasin City jumpstarted the UniTeam’s campaign in Leyte and Southern Leyte as Marcos and Duterte continue to gather and solidify support for their presidential and vice presidential bids respectively, despite leading their rivals by wide margins barely a month into the elections.
Last February, Duterte visited Southern Leyte for her “Mahalin Natin ang Pilipinas” ride which also took her to the other parts of the country and launched her vice presidential campaign.
