Saturday, March 10, 2007 It's wooing-Rody time once more in Davao By Ben O. Tesiorna Reporter
IT'S the same thing all over again -- very much like election year 2004 -- when both the administration and the opposition openly wooed Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte to their side.
Duterte's popularity among the masses of Davao City remains a prized item among politicians seeking national office and while the mayor has committed to support the administration line-up, the politicians seem not to mind for as long as they are talked about in the same breath as the mayor or are, at least, acknowledged as the mayor's friend.
This can be gleaned from Genuine Opposition senatorial candidate Panfilo Lacson when he said that Duterte might just be adopted by GO as their official bet for the mayoralty race in Davao City.
"But that is just my personal opinion. Syempre yung majority pa rin ng GO ang magdedecide. Pero malaki ang chances niya dahil personal friend din siya ni Erap eh," Lacson said. (Of course, it will be the GO who would decide. But his chances are great because Estrada is Duterte's friend.)
GO campaign manager JV Ejercito also praised the mayor for making it easy for them to stage their proclamation rally at the Rizal Park last Thursday.
Ejercito publicly thanked the mayor for his fairness in allowing them to stage their second big proclamation rally here in the city. It can be noted that this was only the second time wherein the complete line-up of GO senatorial candidates showed up, including Wednesday group member Manny Villar.
"In fairness to Rody, he was very fair and did not give us a hard time despite the fact that we are in the opposition," Ejercito said in an interview last Thursday.
It was also revealed by Ejercito that the city mayor also provided the group with security detail for their campaign rally and sorties.
Incidentally, staging rallies in the city had rarely been a problem, thus protest rallies have become a common sight in the city's Rizal and Freedom Parks.
Ejercito also expressed that the overwhelming success of the rally showed that the people are clamoring for change in the government. "The outcome is very inspiring and it proves that the opposition is not disorganized," he said.
"Even if we just invited people through radio, there was still a show of support and the turn-out was very good," Ejercito said.
Aside from Duterte, the GO also underlines their close association with former President Joseph Estrada.
GO media bureau chief Ferdie Ramos said the former president immediately called him up after the rally and expressed jubilation over its success.
Ramos said Estrada phoned the candidates to ensure their presence in the GO proclamation rally.
Speaking to a crowd of over 3 to 5 thousand, all 10 candidates rallied for the votes of Davaoeños. The eleventh candidate, detained Antonio Trillanes, was represented by a local supporter who read his message.
