Lakas Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) vice presidential bet Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte urged every Filipino to help in ensuring the conduct of clean, orderly, and peaceful national and local elections on May 9.
“We are worried about election day and we always call on everyone to support an honest, orderly and peaceful elections for our country,” Duterte told reporters in an ambush interview.
Aside from voting day, Duterte said they are preparing for the canvassing of votes and the proclamation of winners by Congress.
The legislature is scheduled to reconvene on May 23, two weeks after the elections, principally to canvass the votes for president and vice president and declare the winners. The term of office of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and Vice President Leni Robredo will end at noon of June 30.
Duterte reiterated that she and UniTeam standard-bearer former Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) are maintaining a running-scared stance in the homestretch of the campaign despite leading by a margin of more than 30 percentage points over their closest opponents in Pulse Asia’s March tracking survey.
She said they are revisiting the Calabarzon area, Central Luzon and the Bicol region to reach out to more voters.
In Batangas, Duterte on also said she will work for the rehabilitation of Crown-of-Thorns (COTS) in the coastal areas, specifically the Isla Verde Passage.
Stressing the importance of focusing on the abundance of tourists visiting the local places in the country for a better economic flow within a local government unit, she said the gathering is very crucial for the rehabilitation of the coral reefs as the continuation of COTS infestation points to an unhealthy reef ecosystem.
In the health care sector, Duterte said she expects the benefits of Republic Act (RA) No.11223 or the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act to trickle down to Filipinos in two to three years’ time.
Duterte made this known in her dialogue with the province’s health workers from the Nursing Service Administrators of the Philippines (ANSAP) at the Provincial Capitol Auditorium here even as she bared Davao City’s efforts in operationalizing the “challenging” UHC Act.
The UHC law is considered one of the legacy legislation of the President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s administration, along with RA 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act (free college tuition law).
Duterte, chairperson of Lakas-CMD and regional party Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP), is the daughter of President Duterte.
During her talk, the frontrunning vice presidential candidate shared what she thought were the problems in implementing the 2019 law.