Bets show off full force in ‘miting de avance’ to mark end of campaign
Four presidential aspirants made their final push on Saturday as they held their respective mammoth miting de avance in Metro Manila and in General Santos City.
Presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos renewed his pitch for unity—a message which analysts said has resonated well with most Filipinos, thus propping up his voters preference ranking in all pre-election polls.
“We are now on the last day of the campaign period for the elections on Monday. I would like to thank all of you for believing in us,” Marcos said in his miting de avance held in Paranaque City.
“Your support for UniTeam is not mere support for a candidate. It is a support for unity, a support for a better Philippines…So come Monday, I hope you think of the future of our country, and hope that you will choose us in UniTeam because we are pushing for unity,” he added.
In Makati City, supporters of Vice President Leni Robredo on Saturday also made a final show of force ahead of Monday’s national elections.
“Tonight, we can all proudly say: I am here. I am part of this. I am making a stand,” said Robredo, the lone woman in the presidential race.
“I have never doubted, I have never lost hope, because I know that Filipinos love their fellow Filipinos. This is the truth that we stand for – that every Filipino knows how to love, and that the hopes of every Filipino striving to survive and making a sacrifice are interconnected,” she added.
Sen. Manny Pacquiao, for his part, held his second and final miting de avance in his hometown in General Santos after the first one Friday evening in Cebu, which is home to his PROMDI party.
He said he is ready to accept whatever the result may be on Monday.
“I am a boxer. I am used to fights like this. [I will respect] whatever is the decision of the people,” Pacquiao said.
In Tondo at the Moriones Linear Park, Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso culminated his 90-day campaign with his miting de avance that was described as both a show of gratitude and a celebration of life, hope, and courage.
“I am indebted to the people of Tondo. That’s where I started [as a councilor] and that’s where I will end the fight,” Domagoso said.
Domagoso has offered his “Life and Livelihood” platform of governance that aims to address poverty, hunger, unemployment, inequality, and social injustice through the effective, efficient, and prudent management of government resources.
“By the mercy of God, with your help, I will give only a simple government. All I will do is [ensure] cheap goods, cheap electricity, cheap crude oil, work, housing, school, hospital…You will feel that every day, you have a government that you can lean on when you need it. That is the government I will give you,” he added.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson capped his presidential campaign Friday night with a miting de avance in his home province of Cavite, followed by a caravan in parts of Southern Luzon Saturday.
“May the bitterness and animosity be buried with the memories of the most grueling 90 days of our lives and be one nation, one people again,” Lacson said.
Marcos and his running mate, Sara Duterte-Carpio, have dominated all major pre-election surveys, maintaining a comfortable lead over their opponents.
In the final pre-election survey conducted by PUBLiCUS Asia, Marcos was ahead with 54 percent and Duterte-Carpio with 59 percent.
In the last OCTA and Pulse Asia surveys, Marcos also kept his wide lead at 58 percent and 56 percent, respectively.
The influential Iglesia Ni Cristo, which counts at least two million voting members, earlier this week endorsed the UniTeam tandem of Marcos and Duterte-Carpio.
