PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has endorsed a total of four candidates in Cagayan de Oro for the May elections, the recent was his close friend Girlie Balaba.
Duterte raised Balaba’s hand on February 5, during Duterte's visit to the wake of former mayor Reuben Canoy's wife.
“Happy syempre kay tanan kandidato maoy pangandoy nga ma-endorse mismo sa Presidente (I’m happy because every candidates dream is to be endorsed by the President). And if there is one person who can vouch my integrity, my passion, dedication, it would be the President,” Balaba said.
Balaba is running for City Councilor in the 2nd district under Mayor Oscar Moreno's lineup. Opposition groups has tagged Moreno as an “anti-Duterte mayor.”
But Balaba said, as far as she knows, Duterte does not consider Moreno as anti-Duterte.
“Unless I've hear it from his mouth, but so far wala man (none). Aware man siya nga linya ko ni Mayor Moreno (He’s aware that I am under the lineup of Mayor Morena),” she said.
Last month, Duterte also raised the hands of 2nd district congressional candidate Alam Lim and mayoral candidate Pompee La Viña.
Rhona Canoy, also running for City Councilor, was also endorsed by Duterte.
Balaba, a former television journalist, said public service is her sense of purpose.
“As a former journalist, I’ve been exposed to the lives of the marginalized. I've heard them and this time I want to help them,” she said.
She said, if she becomes councilor, one of her priorities is to create a group of lawyers that would cater to women who are victims of abuse.