A congressional leader on Monday expressed elation over the overwhelming and growing support to the citizen’s movement that was formed to urge Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio to run for president in 2022.
Deputy Speaker Bernadette Herrera, spokesperson of Hugpong Para Kay Sara, said “continuously and simultaneously a lot are joining the movement.”
“We have actually covered all provinces oath taking na lang of all their coordinators and leaders,” Herrera, of Bagong Henerasyon party-list, said.
Herrera made the statement as over a hundred officials and volunteers participating in a mass oath-taking of the Hugpong Para Kay Sara Pangasinan chapter at the WCC Aeronautical and Technological College last Saturday.
In an apparent show of force aimed at convincing the reluctant presidential poll frontrunner to change her mind, supporters of the local HPS chapter from the 44 municipalities and four cities of Pangasinan took turns pledging allegiance to the movement’s vision to continue the successful programs of President Rodrigo R. Duterte, as well as to future developmental endeavors of Mayor Duterte-Carpio.
The presidential daughter declared the other week that she would not consider the presidency after her father accepted his nomination as vice presidential candidate of PDP-Laban.
Duterte-Carpio cited an agreement in their family that only one of them can run for a national post in next year’s elections.
The mass oath-taking was led by newly-inducted HPS Pangasinan chapter officials Bayambang mayor Cezar T. Quiambao, president; Binalonan mayor Ramon Guico, Jr., VP for finance; Vici Ventanilla, VP for operations; Von Mark Mendoza, VP for external affairs; and Darwina Sampang, secretary and spokesperson.
Named the chapter’s board of advisors were Fifth District Rep. Ramon Guico III, Pangasinan vice mayor Mark Lambino; former Alaminos City mayor Arthur Celeste; former Rep. Mark Cojuangco; and Deputy Speaker Conrad Estrella III.
Presiding over the oath-taking was HPS national chairman and former Davao del Norte governor Anthony del Rosario, who expressed hope that Duterte-Carpio will still change her mind to run for the highest post in the land, “once she sees the growing groundswell of support for her leadership happening all over the country.”
“With her independent mind, we at the HPS feel the country gets the benefit of considering the best candidate for the job, and that is the daughter of the President,” Del Rosario said.
Herrera added: “We’ve set up HPS and it is now snowballing through the regions as people from all sectors, walks of life, and political inclinations are joining it as we go along.”
Guico, who is eyeing a gubernatorial run in Pangasinan, lauded what he described as Duterte-Carpio’s “sterling record” of managing Davao City during her term.
“She has consistently displayed good governance, an inclination towards infrastructure development which would create more jobs and a stronger economy,” he said.
For his part, Quiambao zeroed in on the Davao City mayor’s reputation for being “principled” when it comes to making hard decisions pertaining to social services development for the common folk, investment generation and environmental protection, among others.
“Mayor Sara has improved Davao City immensely under her watch. We pray that she will still change her mind about not running so she can continue the movement for real and genuine change started by her father,” he said.
Duterte-Carpio has consistently led the list of Filipinos’ top bets for President in all independent surveys conducted so far.
In two non-commissioned polls conducted from July to August, both Pulse Asia and the OCTA Research Group, the Davao City Mayor garnered 28 percent of the respondents’ nod.
