Aksyon Demokratiko presidential candidate Francisco Isko Moreno Domagoso wrapped up his two-day barnstorming of Batangas province after attending a grand rally in Sto. Tomas where at least 25,000 people gathered to see the Manila mayor in person.
A grand rally in Lipa City capped a hectic day of campaigning for Moreno on Friday with at least 65,000 Batangueňos braving more than 9 hours of waiting just to see, hear and express their full support to the Aksyon Demokratiko standard bearer during the Ang Bagong Lipa grand proclamation rally.
Prior to going to Lipa City, Moreno and the rest of Team Isko embarked on a series of motorcades and town hall meetings at the towns of San Juan and Balete where thousands of Batangueňos mobbed their “future President.”
Team Isko held another motorcade Saturday and engage the people of Batangas in the towns of San Nicolas, Bauan and Sto. Tomas to cap the two-day Batangas sortie to win the hearts and votes of 1.7 million Batangueňo voters.
On Sunday evening, the Manila city mayor attended the proclamation rally of Asenso Manilenyo local candidatea led by Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna, who is running for mayor, and 3rd District Congressman Yul Servo Nieto, who is running for vice mayor.
Moreno, along with his running mate Dr. Willie Ong, Aksyon Demokratiko senatorial bets Dr. Carl Balita, Samira Gutoc and Jopet Sison and guest candidate John Castrciones of PDP-Laban, will be attending the Asenso Manilenyo rally in Earnshaw Street in Sampaloc District.
Earlier in the morning, Moreno led the inauguration of Tondominium 2, the second condominium building constructed by the city government for Tondo’s informal settlers as part of Moreno’s mass housing program.
On Monday, Moreno and his team will be going to Misamis Oriental for a whole day sortie followed by another sortie in Lanao province on Wednesday and a two-day barnstorming in the island of Mindoro on Thursday and Friday. Rey E. Requejo
Moreno has expressed optimism that the vote-rich province of Batangas can help deliver the votes for him in the May 9 elections similar to what they did for another candidate who eventually won the presidency. Based on Commission on Elections figures, Batangas is the 7th vote-rich province in the country with 1,819,071 registered voters out of 65.7 million Filipinos eligible to cast their ballots for the 2022 elections.
“It’s big, Batangas is big and we have already proven that Batangas can win the president. Because there was in the past history that really gave this volume of votes that changed the course of the presidential candidate and he in turn won,” Moreno told reporters after a campaign rally at the San Juan Municipal Gym.
To be able to win the trust of voters, Moreno had said he is banking on his rags-to-riches story – from being a scavenger, sidecar driver to being an actor and becoming a Manila councilor for 9 years, vice mayor for 9 years and city mayor. Pairing it with what he called a modest campaign would help do the trick, he said.
“My fight in 2019, my opponents are also pedigree, they are big, and the elitist politicians in Manila also ganged up on me because the political oligarchs of Manila don’t like me, for the sake of God and the people, I am third in the survey nun diba, even last week before election, 51% was given to my vote by the people,” Moreno said, in a recent interview.
Moreno had said he prefers going directly to people instead of drawing crowds. “The good thing about what they are doing is that they can achieve the perception that they are strong. Because there are many of them because they have drone shots. They can achieve that. Just vote for me, they can have the picture,” the Manila mayor told reporters in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
“It’s not a concert or something else. That’s why you be the judge … I prefer people. Five hundred, three thousand, five thousand, forty thousand, 47,000 or 57,000 or 100,000. Just don’t talk to me yesterday, and I’m talking to you now, too,” Moreno pointed out. Team Isko political and campaign strategist Lito Banayo confirmed there will be no changes in the campaign strategy of Moreno which is going directly to the people using a combination of motorcades and town hall meetings.
As Moreno previously stated in interviews during recent campaign sorties, Banayo said the most important way of campaigning is to go straight to the people by engaging them through town hall meetings and motorcades and this will continue as the Aksyon Demokratiko national candidates led by Moreno visit more provinces and cities in the next few days and weeks. Banayo recalled that when then Davao City Mayor and now President Rodrigo Duterte ran for the presidency in the 2016 elections almost no one bet on him. “I can only refresh your memory. In the 2016 elections, not a single congressman or a governor bet on the President or Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte. It was only filed one week before the elections,” he said.