PRESIDENTIAL aspirant former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (BBM) and his running mate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio began their Metro Manila caravan yesterday in Quezon city.
The motorcade started at around 7:30 a.m. at the eastbound lane of Commonwealth Avenue in front of the Commission on Audit, before making its way through Quezon Avenue and at the Welcome Rotunda.
There were complaints of traffic snarls in the motorcade’s route.
The tandem has been making the rounds of provinces in the past weeks, drumming up support for their presidential and vice presidential bids in the 2022 elections.
In a brief speech to supporters who joined the motorcade, Marcos asked them to unite not only for their candidacy but also for the country.
“Ipagpatuloy natin ang pagkakaisa ng bansang Pilipinas. Ang boto ninyo para kay Marcos at Sara Duterte ay boto ninyo para sa pagkakaisa (We will continue the unity for our country. Your vote for Marcos and Sara Duterte is a vote for unity),he said.
Quezon City, which has 1.3 million voters, has landmarks tied to the history of martial law that Marcos’ father, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, imposed in the 70s. But the younger Marcos won in the city in the 2016 election, garnering over 412, 000 votes against the 297,000 of Vice President Leni Robredo.
In the 2019 elections, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte was allied with Duterte-Carpio’s Hugpong ng Pagbabago. However, for the 2022 polls, it is Belmonte’s rival, Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Mike Defensor who is allied with Hukbong.
Defensor is challenging Belmonte for Quezon City’s mayoralty post in 2022. — With Wendell Vigilia
