Aksyon Demokratiko presidential candidate Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso, after winning the hearts and minds of Cebuanos during his “listening tour” in Cebu province, is likely to get a strong endorsement from One Cebu Party as their choice for 2022 elections.
Moreno’s camp revealed that formal endorsement from the Garcia clan of Cebu may wait for another 10 days but all their statements and body language point to Moreno as their bet for presidential race in next year’s polls.
“The most glaring symbolism so far that not too many noticed last Friday was when Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and his brother, 3rd District Rep. Pablo John brought Mayor Isko to the Capitol’s Balcony where the three of them flashed the No.1, sign which is both the One Cebu sign and Manila God First!,” a statement released by Moreno’s media bureau stated.
“Moreno is the only second presidential candidate invited to stand between Gov. Gwen and Cong. PJ at the Balcony,” the statement said, noting that the first was Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2004, the year she won the presidency and won big in Cebu province.
From the Capitol, Moreno was led by Gov. Gwen and her siblings Rep. PJ and former GSIS president Winston Garcia to the nearby Cooperative of First Instance (CFI) building which was a legacy of the mother of the Garcias.
Around 50 representatives of Cebu cooperatives were gathered at the meeting hall of the CFI coop to hear Mayor Isko's views and programs, his role in the cooperative movement, especially the recovery of the Philippine economy after the COVID 19 pandemic.
The Garcia siblings gave their heart-warming messages to the Manila Mayor as Moreno was the only Presidential Candidate who visited the Cebu CFI and honored their late mother, Judge Esperanza Fiel Garcia.
And this is another give-away that Moreno has won the hearts not only of the Garcias but the One Cebu Party.
"You coming here Mayor, is an honor for the Cebu CFI but you bring honor to our mother and to our family. On behalf of our family, from the bottom of our hearts, we thank you very much," said lawyer Winston Garcia, who is the chairman of the CFI Cooperative.
For her part, Gov. Gwen said: "There have been other, well, national candidates that have visited the capitol, but it is only 'Yorme' who asked if he may visit the Cebu CFI. You have done your research, Yorme.”
The Manila mayor pledged to the people of Cebu that if he gets their support, he will ensure the lives and livelihood of the people.
"Life and livelihood will be my utmost concern in the next two years. We will create more jobs, we will create more opportunities, lower oil taxes," Moreno said.
Moreno also lauded the CFI Coop as the country's biggest and most successful cooperatives, with over 150,000 members nationwide and more than P15 billion in assets.
The Cebu CFI Cooperative was founded in 1970 by the late Judge Esperanza "Inday" Phil Garcia. CFI was initially built in response to the loan abuse practices imposed upon the Courts of First Instance of Cebu employees.
Moreno arrived in Cebu Thursday to embark on a two-day “Listening Tour” in Central Visayas province, considered to be the No. 1 vote-rich province in the country.
Congressman PJ Garcia personally accompanied Moreno as he visited the towns of Barili, which is the hometown of the Garcias; Dumanjug and Moalboal known for its world class diving resorts and one of the biggest tourism areas badly hit by the Covid 19 pandemic last year.
The three towns are all within the 3rd District under Cong. Garcia and this is another hint showing that the Garcia family is rooting for Moreno.
In an interview with reporters at the Club Serena Resort Hotel in Moalboal, Garcia said the One Cebu Party is seriously considering
Moreno as their official presidential candidate in 2022. Garcia is the secretary-general of One Cebu, the biggest and most influential party in the province.
“Mayor Isko is one of those who will be seriously concerned by One Cebu to be the presidential candidate of One Cebu. We’re seriously, seriously considering Mayor Isko,” said Garcia.
Garcia said Moreno is the first presidentiable to consult different sectors and build solutions with ordinary people.
“As I said in Barili and Dumanjug, I think he’s the first presidentiable who really took the time to go to the sectors, who were really hit by the pandemic, to really hear the real stories, to come up with appropriate solutions,” he said.
The lawmaker also noted similarities between Domagoso’s economic priorities and the programs of Cebu’s provincial government.
“His program on MSMEs and tourism, I think is really in line with the priorities of One Cebu and Governor Gwen Garcia. Immediately, when the pandemic hit, Governor Gwen's first priority was really to balance lives and livelihood life and livelihood, we can't just hide it all the time,” Garcia said.
“Tourism was opened, even to local tourists first, then he had a program with MSMEs. I think great minds, you know, think alike, Mayor Isko and Governor Gwen,” Garcia added.
Meanwhile, Moreno vowed to continue and build on the success of the administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program to pave the way for faster and expand its coverage all over the country in order to create more jobs and opportunities for growth everywhere.
“When there is a new bridge, highway, airport, seaport, and MRT, there will definitely be a lot of jobs and many opportunities for people to earn more. That is the priority of my administration, Life and Livelihood,” Moreno said on Saturday.
Moreno was on a two-day “Listening Tour” in this Central Visayas province where he met with various sectors to hear their experiences in the pandemic and how they were able to recover under the leadership of Cebu Gov. Garcia.
Moreno was with Gov. Garcia Saturday as they visited the Cebu-Cordova Bridge, which will officially be the longest bridge in the country once completed. The San Juanico Bridge in Eastern Visayas is only 2.16 km.
The Cebu Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEx) is a toll facility spanning 8.98 kms. that connects Mactan Island via the Municipality of Cordova to Mainland Cebu, consisting of a main span bridge, a viaduct and causeway. The Project cost is currently at P30B. Construction started on January 8, 2018 and completion is expected in March 2022.
Moreno’s visit to Cebu made him realize that if prioritized by the national government, islands like Cebu could be connected to Bohol, which could pave the way for easier exchange of goods.
This could be done by the building of bridges that will serve as tourism circuits and tourism highways as spelled out under the Bilis Kilos 10-Point Agenda for Governance under an Isko Moreno presidency.
“Just imagine if we can build a bridge wherein Bohol and Cebu are being connected? The islands of Visayas being connected by bridges, which is not rocket science. It’s a matter of priority by the national government,” Moreno told reporters here.
Connectivity in the Visayas would require the building of the Tagbilaran-Panglao Link Bridge; Panay Guimaras-Negros Link Bridge; Cebu-Bohol Link Bridge; Cebu-Negros Link Bridge; Bohol-Leyte Link Bridge and Leyte-Surigao Link Bridge.
Moreno said connectivity across the region will not only boost its tourism sector but also turn it into an economic center, similar to Metro Manila.
“When that happens and becomes the center of the next administration to bring the Visayas together, Luzon will no longer be our economic center. Visayas can be an economic center,” he said.
Moreno noted that based on their data, 60% of the country’s economy was from Metro Manila, which proved to be a challenge during the pandemic.
Cebu will particularly benefit from these infrastructure projects, particularly its tourism sector. Moreno had said that out of the 8 million foreign tourists in the Philippines in 2019, 35% or 2.8 million tourists visited.
The Cebu Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) was submitted in 2018 as an unsolicited proposal under the PPP ordinances of the City of Cebu and the Municipality of Cordova and is locally-implemented, undertaken pursuant to the Local Government Code.
A joint venture between and among Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (later on assigned to its wholly owned subsidiary, Cebu Cordova Link Expressway Corp.), the City of Cebu and the Municipality of Cordova, was, subsequently, formed as the project vehicle.
All cash infusion comes from the private proponent and the LGUs’ contribution is in the form of land, if any, owned by the LGUs which may be needed for right-of-way (ROW) purposes. Toll implementation will be done via a local toll regulatory council, created by the respective ordinances of the two LGUs.
Under an Isko Moreno Presidency, Public-Private Partnership (PPP) will also continue both national and local like what happened to the CCLEX.
“We need the private sector to invest more in infrastructure and they can build fast, and it will save government resources which it can use for social services like health care and education,” said Moreno.
Moreno has also promised to continue the “Build, Build, Build” program of the current administration, aligned with his plans to build more vertical mass housing, world-class hospitals and modern schools as this construction boom will create more job opportunities.