Presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio were both in Cebu on Friday, fueling speculation they were preparing to cement their tandem for the May 2022 elections.
Marcos arrived in Cebu City to launch his regional campaign headquarters there and paid a courtesy call to Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, as representatives for both said the meeting was simply “cordial.”
Meanwhile, Duterte-Carpio was visiting her cousin, Cebu Province 5th District Board member Red Duterte, the Davao mayor announced herself on her official Facebook page.
Although neither camp declared they were in fact meeting in the Queen City of the South, rumors of a Marcos-Duterte ticket for next year’s polls grew after a poster was being circulated on social media with “Inday Sara” billed as vice president to “BBM.”
This is contrary to many expectations that the Davao mayor would become the Duterte administration’s standard-bearer by substitution, after the ruling PDP-Laban told Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa to file his certificate of candidacy for president hours before the October 8 deadline.
Dela Rosa later admitted it would be better if Duterte-Carpio would run in his stead, as he filed his COC at the Commission on Elections wearing a shirt with the logo of Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) – the regional party led by the Davao mayor.
“Good evening, everyone. My visit to Cebu is confirmed. I am talking now to my cousin, Cebu 5th District Board Member Red Duterte. Thank you very much,” Duterte-Carpio said in Filipino on FB, with five photos of her alighting from a plane, walking into the Mactan-Cebu airport, and being seated at a table talking to her cousin and two other men.
Meanwhile, Marcos said that to enable the Philippines to keep pace with the development of the global economy and ensure sufficient but low-cost power supply, the country should consider full exploration of its renewable energy resources.
The Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) standard-bearer pointed out that due to its geographic location and being archipelagic, the country is rich in renewable energy resources that could provide more than sufficient power supply once explored and tapped properly.
“We must explore other energy resources, like wind, solar, hydro, biomass, geothermal and ocean energy sources, like the windmill farm in Bangui, Ilocos Norte that is now supplying 40% of the electricity needs of the province,” he said.
“We have to break our dependence on imported crude oil for our households and industries to enjoy low-cost and uninterrupted power supply not just for foreign investors, but for our own businessmen. Electricity should be cheap and reliable so we can keep pace with the development of the global economy,” Marcos said.
He cited figures that in 2018, the top five countries with the highest power rates surveyed in Asia are Japan (P12.31 per kWh); Philippines (P8.96 per kWh); Singapore (P8.83 per kWh); Hong Kong (P6.53 per kWh); and Thailand (P6.23 per kWh), as the Philippines had the second-highest power costs in Asia at P8.96 per kWh.
The presidential aspirant said he will push for 100% household electrification because everyone must have access to electricity since it is a very essential part of the world today.
“Access to electricity is essential for improving access to health services, like now that we have COVID, we need electricity to ensure safe storage of vaccines,” he added.
Marcos also stressed that the ultimate solution to the rising cost of crude oil that overwhelms the government’s efforts to control the prices of basic commodities would be the full exploration of all potential renewable energy sources in the country.
“The pandemic has changed the energy landscape. Just like any country reeling from it, we should learn to adapt to this new environment. I, for one, have always been a proponent of renewable energy and I believe that it will play a crucial role not only in our recovery but in the country’s future as well,” he said.
