LAKAS Christian Muslim Democrats vice presidential candidate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio whipped up the so-called Solid North during her campaign in Northern Luzon and proved critics wrong that it was already shattered and moribund.
“Barnstorming the country’s northern provinces – Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Isabela, Cagayan, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union and Pangasinan – for several days, the Davao city mayor disproved notions that the politically-defining vote was already an afterthought and instead further solidified it, this time behind the UniTeam,”said House Majority Leader and Lakas-CMD president Martin Romualdez.
The tandem of former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos and Duterte-Carpio secured the support and endorsements of political leaders from governors down to municipal officials, various groups and grassroots organizations.
Duterte-Carpio launched her north-bound sortie by making whistle stops in the heart of Nueva Ecija as her convoy moved around Cabanatuan.
In between meeting voters where she observed COVID-19 protocols, Duterte inaugurated the separate offices in the province of her support groups Kay Inday Sara Lilipad ang Pilipinas (KISLAP) and Marcos Sara Duterte Alliance (MASADA).
Up in the north, Duterte secured the support of Nueva Vizcayanos led by party-mate and Nueva Vizcaya lone district Rep. Luisa Lloren Cuaresman, who, along with the province’s key leaders, welcomed her at the town hall of capital Bayombong.
Campaigning in the heart of Cagayan Valley, Duterte-Carpio, who is also the chairperson of the Lakas-CMD, got the solid and overwhelming support of Cagayanos and the residents of Isabela led by their leaders.
“I can say that even before the campaign began, we in Isabela were already all-in for BBM-Sara UniTeam,” said Isabela Gov. Rodolfo Albano III, whose province has a million voters.
In Cagayan, Governor Manuel Mamba moved to consolidate the Solid North by assuring Duterte-Carpio the votes of Cagayanos.
Duterte is married to a Carpio from the town of Paoay, Ilocos Norte.
Duterte-Carpio also campaigned in Ilocos Sur where the province’s political kingpin and Narvacan City Mayor Luis Singson vowed to deliver more than 90 percent of the province’s total votes to the UniTeam tandem.
La Union Gov. Emmanuel “Pacoy” Ortega lll, of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, also joined local officials from the Solid North in rallying behind the tandem.
Capping her foray in Northern Luzon, political leaders in Pangasinan led by reelectionist Gov. Amado Espino III and Pangasinan congressman and gubernatorial candidate Ramon Guico III on Saturday also endorsed the BBM-Sara tandem.
