The camp of presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said 90 percent or 73 of the 81 governors in the country have expressed commitment to fully support his candidacy.
The Partido Federal ng Pilipinas said 16 governors trooped to the BBM headquarters in Mandaluyong on Sunday night to reiterate their support for Marcos’ presidential bid.
It was the second round of meetings between Marcos and the local chief executives for the consolidation of command votes in their respective provinces.
“Chavit (Singson) said that almost 90 percent of the governors are already for Bongbong. It’s true. Right now we have a new President,” Quezon Gov. Danilo Suarez declared.
He was referring to the statement of Narvacan, Ilocos Sur Mayor and League of Municipalities of the Philippines President Luis Chavit Singson who said that 90 percent of the governors are now fully supporting the BBM-Sara UniTeam.
“I don’t see any unprecedented event that can hamper the victory of Bongbong,” Suarez said.
Singson also appealed to the governors to work doubly hard to make sure that Marcos would be the first “majority president” since the multi-party system was implemented in the country.
“We are still working on the double even though we are sure of winning. We need to show that he is the first majority president,” Singson appealed.
The governors said that Singson’s appeal is very possible based on the results of all the respectable surveys where Marcos garnered more than 50 percent of the voters’ preference.
“Chavit’s appeal for us to make him majority president, well that would be our job. It’s easy to sell BBM, it’s okay” Suarez added.
For his part, Isabela Gov. Rodito Albano said that there is no need for UniTeam to campaign in their province.
“Even if I don’t campaign for him, he is sure of us. It looks like our vote is even higher than BBM would get in Ilocos,” Albano boasted.
Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas echoed the governor’s sentiments saying he will push for the protection of Marcos’ votes in his province.
“Of course, we will win there but we still have to push. We need to watch. We have to show that BBM is the solution. It’s really BBM that really pushes for unity. And that is what we are all looking for,” Mandanas said.
Bohol Gov. Arthur Yap, on the other hand, also assured that the majority of Boholanos will vote for Marcos.
“In Bohol, we have a new survey that was released last Friday, BBM is at 54 percent. Of course we will work on that but I don’t see any problem anymore,” Yap said.
Also present were Governors Dax Cua of Quirino; Susan Yap of Tarlac; Jose Riano of Romblon; Florencio Miraflores of Aklan,; Philip Tan of Misamis Occidental; Eduardo Gadiano Mindoro Occidental; Alexander Pimentel of Surigao del Sur; Bonifacio Lacwasan, of Mountain Province; Suharto Mangudadatu of Sultan Kudarat; and former Gov Jun Ynares III of Rizal
Last week, 10 governors from different provinces have also expressed their full support for Marcos.
Apart from concerns and priority programs in their respective provinces, Marcos said the informal but intimate meeting with the local chief executives, that coincided with the second Comelec-sponsored presidential debate, also tackled vote protection for the upcoming May 9 elections.
“Vote protection, that’s what we talked about so that we can make sure that the election goes well. Count all the votes and there will be no problems,” Marcos said.
Present during the previous meeting were Governors Imelda Dimaporo, of Lanao del Norte; Francisco Emmanuel Ortega III, of La Union; Nancy Catamco, of Cotabato; Esteban Evan Contreras, of Capiz; Damian Mercado, of Southern Leyte; Ferdinand Tubban of Kalinga; Joy Bernos of Abra; Jerry Dalipog of Ifugao; and Camiguin gubernatorial bet Rep. Xavier Jesus Romualdo.
