The camp of presidential candidate Manila Mayor isko Moreno Domagoso on Tuesday belittled the claims of the lead convenor of Ikaw Muna Pilipinas Visayas Chapter that they are supposedly shifting the group’s support to rival Vice President Leni Robredo.
Team Isko chief campaign strategist Lito Banayo said various sectoral and volunteer groups remain solid in their support for Aksyon Demokratiko standard bearer Isko Moreno Domagoso despite claims made by the lead convenor of the Ikaw Muna (IM) Pilipinas Visayas chapter supposedly shifting the group’s support to another candidate.
“First of all, we only know one person who spoke, Mr. (Nick) Malazarte, and most of the Visayas for Isko, VISA, and groups in Cebu have a statement denying Mr. Malazarte, that he is alone,” Banayo said during a press briefing at the Isko Moreno Domagoso for President headquarters in Intramuros, Manila.
“In fact, this coming (April) 8 and 9, Mayor Isko and his team will be going to Cebu, and they will be hosted by volunteer groups based in Cebu and Visayas. So, we don’t know how many Mr. Malazarte says he allegedly moved to Vice President Leni (Robredo),” he added.
Banayo’s statements were bolstered by the leaders of various groups in the Visayas who pointed out that Malazarte’s presence is hardly felt in the ground despite claiming to be the leader of the IM Pilipinas chapter.
Dr. Winley Dela Fuente, head of the Visayas for Isko-Sara Alliance (VISA), said that Malazarte has not been actively participating in the activities of the sectoral groups in the Visayas that are pushing Moreno’s candidacy.
Edward Ligas, head of President Isko Movement-Isulong ang Kapakanan ng Pilipina, noted that Moreno is actually getting tremendous support on the ground, with at least 30 sectoral groups in the Visayas backing Moreno.
On the other hand, Ely Abella, head of Inisyatibo ng Makabayang Pilipino, said that it was actually Malazarte who does not have solid followers that can help boost Moreno’s bid, and his decision to leave will be hardly felt.
In the meantime, Banayo warned that it is not right for people to base decisions on surveys at this point in time, since the present toxic environment and the lack of real time survey results makes pre-election polls unreliable.
“In a toxic environment such as what we have, where pink trolls proliferate, so many do not answer the surveys correctly because of the bashing done by various sides. So this has engendered a sense of parang fear on the part of a lot of people,” Banayo explained.
“Again, these are snapshots. All the surveys we see are either mid-February or first week of March. But we have not yet captured the fast-paced events, like this P203 billion estate tax claim against Ferdinand Marcos Jr . . . How it impacts on his number, we still do not know at this point in time,” Banayo said.
Having said that, the seasoned political strategist said the “unity” being dangled by the camp of Robredo is just a strategy borne out of her own ambition to become president, riding on an anti-Marcos sentiment and supposedly moral principles.
“In other words, what we are talking about here, if we continue this, is let us unite for one person. That’s not right. Because in our view, we are fighting for the people, not one person or one faction,” Banayo said.
“It’s about people, it’s not about warring factions. It’s not about exclusive factions who think they are morally upright compared to the rest of humanity. So, I don’t think that will prosper,” Banayo said.
Banayo said this is precisely the reason why Mayor Isko is making himself available as a viable alternative presidential candidate – to uplift the quality of lives of the masses, and not on the basis of political factionalism or personal ambition.
“We are fighting precisely those who are not fighting because we are against it or we are against this faction. We are fighting because we are fighting for the right of ordinary people, of ordinary people, to have a better life, a better future,” Banayo said.