PRESIDENTIAL daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio’s Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) party kicked-off its campaign caravan Tuesday, February 12, at the Pampanga Capitol Compound in the City Of San Fernando.
The HNP’s campaign launching in Pampanga was backed by Governor Lilia Pineda and Vice Governor Dennis Pineda’s local party Kapanalig at Kambilan Ding Memalen Kapampangan (Kambilan).
Kambilan was one of the first local parties which forged an alliance with the then-emerging Davao regional HNP party chaired by the presidential daughter in August 2018.
The HNP’s 13-man senatorial slate included Senators Cynthia Villar, Koko Pimentel, Sonny Angara and JV Ejercito; former senators Jinggoy Estrada, Bong Revilla and Pia Cayetano; Maguindanao Rep. Zajid Mangudadatu, Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos, former police chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, former presidential aide Bong Go, former presidential political adviser Francis Tolentino and journalist Jiggy Manicad.
The campaign launching, which gathered around 25,000 Kapampangans from all cities and municipalities in the province, is aimed at solidifying votes from the vote-rich province of Pampanga.
During the 2016 elections, Pampanga ranked third among the highest vote-yielding provinces in the country with more than 1.2 million registered voters.
In an interview with media after the launching, Duterte-Carpio said that they have chosen Pampanga as the venue of the campaign launch in the goal of gathering as much votes as his father President Rodrigo Duterte gathered during his presidential run.
“President Duterte won by a landslide in Pampanga in 2016 and we wanted to claim the same victory here this year. Also, Pampanga is a very strategic place in Luzon to start off our campaign caravan,” Duterte-Carpio said.
After Pampanga, Duterte-Carpio said that the HNP will also be staging at least stage 110 campaign sorties in a daily basis across the country for 90 days for the upcoming midterm polls.
Meanwhile, Governor Pineda said that HNP’s decision to choose Pampanga as the venue of its campaign caravan launching is a “privilege and an opportunity for Kapampangans to choose their future leaders.”
“We were given the opportunity to listen to the programs that they are offering to us in Pampanga if we will elect them. I was happy that our kabalens really listened, at least they were given a chance to know the candidates and their programs personally, not only those they see on TV,” she said.
Governor Pineda said that the Kambilan’s endorsement of the HNP is not equivalent to any personal and political agenda.
“What’s important is that they do what they promised to do: to push for the infrastructure, health care, education, livelihood and other programs that will help uplift the lives of Kapampangans and Filipinos as a whole,” she said.
Call for support
Meanwhile, Vice Governor Dennis Pineda asked some 25,000 Kapampangans, who attended Tuesday's campaign rally, to give all-out and solid support to all HNP senatorial candidates.
“Let us show our support to President Duterte by voting straight for all Hugpong senatorial candidates so change will continue,” Vice Governor Pineda said.
Another rally was set at the Asean Convention Center inside the Clark Freeport, where over 5,000 people were expected.
At the instruction of House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the younger Pineda organized the HNP rally in support of the administration’s senatorial bets.
Vice Governor Pineda said voting HNP senatorial bets would assure an end to illegal drugs, corruption and terrorism and continuation of good governance.
House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo also urged Kapampangans to give HNP bets a “landslide” as they did in 2016 for President Duterte. (With Ian Ocampo Flora)