‘This activity would have attracted a lot of segment participants and onlookers, and also critics and hecklers along the way, even as the organizers defy health protocols and take on the risks of being super-spreaders of COVID-19.’
ANY group trying to convince somebody to run for President has at its disposal several ways to do it: run an advertisement in newspapers or online media sites, write a letter, launch a signature campaign online or physically, produce videos for YouTube and Facebook and other social media platforms, talk to the candidate directly, get a friend of the candidate-to-be to plead your case, etc.
These are cheap or reasonably priced activities that might just do the trick, but the Sara All organization having this same objective, trying to convince Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio to seek the presidency in 2022, has planned to do a Cotabato-to-Manila caravan of as many vehicles as they could muster.
Such an ambitious caravan would have to pass through Davao, Butuan, Surigao, Leyte, Samar, Sorsogon, the rest of the Bicol Region, Quezon, Batangas, and Laguna before reaching Metro Manila. It would also require a lot of expenses on fuel, food and logistics including tollways and port fees.
This activity would have attracted a lot of segment participants and onlookers, and also critics and hecklers along the way, even as the organizers defy health protocols and take on the risks of being super-spreaders of COVID-19.
Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio is right, therefore, in asking the organizers to forego the motorcade, saying it was “extremely unwise” amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Sara All Philippines 2022 caravan had been scheduled from November 4 to 15.
The mayor reiterated that she already made the decision as early as September not to run for president next year, and thus urged her supporters to instead do productive activities and spend their money to help the poor and the hungry.
“Let us not unnecessarily contribute to global warming. Let us save on fuel,” the mayor, who is running for reelection in the city, stressed.
Other candidates and political leaders should take the cue from Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
