RESIDENTS of Tacloban City and several Leyte towns turned out in force to welcome Sen. Manny Pacquiao as he continued his foray into known bailiwicks of presidential survey front-runner former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
Buoyed by the warm reception he got from barnstorming Laoag City and other Ilocos Norte municipalities, the PROMDI standard bearer voiced confidence he can win even in areas known as Marcos strongholds.
Former First Lady Imelda Marcos, Marcos’ mother, hails from Leyte while the long-time mayor of Tacloban City is a Marcos cousin.
Pacquiao admitted he was surprised by the crowd numbering at least 30,000 that met him in Remedios Trinidad Romualdez Plaza in downtown Tacloban City.
“Yung sa Tacloban, ako rin namangha. Amazing na na hindi naman tayo nagtawag, hindi tayo naghakot, kumbaga lahat sila voluntary na nagpunta doon para mapakinggan yung talumpati natin at programa natin. Siguro naalala nila noong panahon ng (storm) `Yolanda’ sinamahan ko pa sila matulog sa tent tapos kwentuhan kami (Tacloban was a nice surprise. We did not organize a big rally, issued no invitations and yet thousands of people came to listen. I think they remembered how I helped during the Yolanda (disaster) … I joined them in makeshift tents and I listened to their stories),” he said.
Pacquiao also expressed confidence that despite survey results, the May 9 elections remains a wide-open race as people are still weighing their choices and will keep an open mind until it is time to mark their ballots.
He said he deliberately scheduled his sorties in areas touted as bailiwicks of Marcos just to prove he can beat the late dictator’s son on his turf.
“If I don’t show up there, then they can claim an area is solidly backing them. That’s why I am here to test their claim,” he said in Filipino, speaking to reporters after visiting the evacuation site of victims of a recent landslides in Abuyog town.
From Abuyog, Pacquiao’s motorcade snaked through various towns including Silago, Hinunangan, Hinundayan, San Juan, and Sogod.
His convoy had to make several unscheduled stops as he alighted to meet and shake hands with supporters who lined the road waving home-made blue flaglets and brandishing posters of him in his glory days in boxing.
The previous week, Pacquiao campaigned in Ilocos Norte, birthplace of Marcos’ father and namesake who was ousted in a “People Power revolt” in 1986.
The retired boxing icon said his presidential run is a chance for the masses to put one of their own in Malacañang.
“Ang laban ni Manny Pacquiao ay isang rebolusyon ito ng mga mahihirap na tao na maipanalo naman natin ang mga mahihirap. Ipanalo natin ang mga nagugutom.
Rebolusyon ito hindi gamit ang sandata kundi rebolusyon gamit ang ink ng ball pen para sa pagboto (This fight is no less than a revolution of the poor people to seat one who came from their midst. This is the fight of the hungry. This is a revolution — not of weapons — but one of ink and pens),” Pacquiao said.
