Carpio in town to endorse local bets, senatoriables

CEBU. Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio (left) with Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgar Labella and former Cebu City mayor Mike Rama during the Hugpong ng Pagbabago political rally in Cebu Thursday, March 21, 2019. (Arni Aclao)
CEBU. Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio (left) with Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgar Labella and former Cebu City mayor Mike Rama during the Hugpong ng Pagbabago political rally in Cebu Thursday, March 21, 2019. (Arni Aclao)

DAVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio campaigned for 13 senatorial candidates and party-list groups in Cebu Thursday morning, March 21.

Carpio, daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte, heads the political alliance Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP), which she founded in Davao City last year.

She also raised the hands of her allies here, including reelectionists Mandaue City Mayor Luigi Quisumbing, his runningmate Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna and their fellow candidates running under the Hugpong ng Mandaue sa Pagbabago (HMP).

HNP and HMP agreed to support each other in 2018.

Quisumbing said he was grateful to Carpio for choosing their group as a partner.

“At the end of the day, what is important to us is that she sees us as a genuine partner to fulfill the dreams of the Duterte administration, as far as anti-corruption and anti-drugs are concerned,” he said.

In full force

Last Feb. 24, the President attended a political rally at the Plaza Independencia in Cebu City where he endorsed national and local candidates allied with Partido Demokratiko Pilipino Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), including Quisumbing’s opponent in the mayoral race in the midterm elections in May, Sixth District Rep. Jonas Cortes.

But Quisumbing said he did not mind Duterte’s endorsement of his rival.

Fortuna, for his part, said he was confident about their chances with Carpio’s support.

The HNP led by Carpio visited Mandaue City first last Thursday. She was accompanied by senatorial candidates Francis Tolentino, Ronald dela Rosa, Imee Marcos, Jinggoy Estrada and Jiggy Manicad, among others.

Supporters filled the Mandaue City Cultural and Sports Complex. Those who couldn’t be accommodated inside watched the proceedings on two giant screens outside the venue. The giant screens also played the campaign advertisements of senatoriables Dong Mangudadatu and Cynthia Villar.

HNP’s “bet” in San Fernando

In her speech, Carpio also endorsed senatorial candidates JV Ejercito, Koko Pimentel and Bong Revilla.

Representatives of Ako Bisaya and PBA party-lists also attended the gathering.

Businessman Ruben Feliciano, a mayoralty candidate in San Fernando, was also present. He is running against reelectionist Mayor Lakambini Reluya, who survived an ambush last January. Feliciano told reporters he is the official candidate of HNP in the southern Cebu town. He said he did not mind when the President raised Reluya’s hand at the Plaza Independencia gathering last month, adding that the administration party needed all the support from local candidates.

After Mandaue, Carpio’s campaign caravan headed to the IEC Pavilion in Cebu City, where the slate of the Partido Barug PDP-Laban was present.

Carpio had to leave the event early because she was reportedly ill, hence there was no raising of hands. But members of Partido Barug PDP-Laban considered her presence as a tacit approval of their candidacies.

Candidacy booster

Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella, the party’s standard bearer, said the support of the President and his daughter was a big help to boost their candidacies.

“It will greatly help considering that no less than the father and the daughter expressed support to us. To a considerable extent, it can help,” he said.

Pia Cayetano and Tolentino also delivered their campaign speeches earlier than scheduled because they, too, had to leave.

Apart from Labella, other candidates of Partido Barug PDP-Laban who were in attendance included former mayor Michael Rama, who is running for vice mayor, Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera who is running for representative in the south district, and celebrity actor and businessman Richard Yap, who is running for representative in the north district, among others.

With a total of 3,082,621 voters, Cebu is the province with the most voters after Metro Manila. (From FMD of SuperBalita Cebu, KAL, RVC, Wenilyn Sabalo)

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