Residents in Laguna came out in droves Thursday and crowded the streets to cheer and express their overwhelming support to Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso as the “Team “Isko” motorcade wended its way around the 16 municipalities of the 4th District of Laguna.
The Laguna sortie was the longest motorcade so far for Moreno and his Aksyon Demokratiko candidates lasting almost 12 hours from the 10 a.m. jump-off in Sta. Maria town until the 9:30 pm sign-off in the municipality of Pila.
The Feb. 8 motorcade in the City of Manila only lasted 7 hours after it was cut short for the 5 p.m. Proclamation Rally at the Kartilya ng Katipunan.
Besides Santa Maria and Pila, Laguna’s 4th district is composed of the municipalities of Sta. Cruz, Cavinti, Famy, Kalayaan, Luisiana, Lumban, Mabitac, Magdalena, Majayjay, Paete, Pakil, Pangil, and Siniloan.
Laguna is a vote-rich province with 1.9 million registered voters.
Everywhere Moreno proceeded, thousands of screaming and cheering supporters jostled for position in the crowded streets, all trying to shake or just touch the hands of the 47-year-old Aksyon Demokratiko standard bearer, and warmly welcomed him with open arms in Laguna.
It was as if whole towns and villages stopped their daily chores just to get a glimpse of Moreno.
Workers, public utility vehicle drivers, store owners, market vendors, construction workers, farmers, parents carrying their children, senior citizens, youth, and members of the LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, queer and intersexed) community were all there, everybody cheering Moreno as he and his team passed on top of a medium-sized flatbed truck with a make-shift roof.
Some mothers and fathers even raised their children asking Moreno to touch their heads, with some even asking him to embrace their children, to which Moreno happily obliged.
There were times when Moreno alighted from the vehicle to greet and utter some words of comfort and gratitude to the elderly on wheelchairs who waited patiently in front of their homes just to see him and show their support to their chosen candidate.
People in outlying villages near the motorcade’s route also came in tricycles, cars, bicycles and on foot just to show their support to the “Yorme ng Pilipinas.”
Even motorists, commuters, travelers, truck drivers, and riders going in the opposite direction could be seen waving and honking their horns to express their support for Moreno, his vice presidential candidate Dr. Willie Ong and Aksyon Demokratiko senatorial bets Dr. Carl Balita, Samira Gutoc and Jopet Sison.
Shouts of “Isko, Isko, Isko” and “Yorme, Yorme, Yorme” reverberated non-stop wherever he went while cellphone were in full view as Lagunenses try to capture the precious moment that Moreno was with them in the flesh.
In a unique display rarely seen in political motorcades, a number of residents were the ones giving Moreno food packets, water, flowers, and even a rosary as a way to bid him good luck and Godspeed in his journey to Malacaňang.
It was a scene eerily similar to what happened in the City of Manila during the first day of the 90-day campaign, just that this is not Moreno’s birthplace and bailiwick, but Laguna.
In town centers and village centers, the motorcade was forced to a crawl and sometimes even to a halt due to the size of the crowds that spilled over to the center of the streets.
Even Mayor Isko was overwhelmed by a throng of Laguna residents who ignored the heat just to express their full support behind him and his fellow candidates from Aksyon Demokratiko.
“The man is terrible. The cold in Laguna but the warmth of the people. Thanks a lot. Cars are fun too, traffic but fun. E ako nga, hiyang-hiya e,” he said to his companions in their vehicle.
Nightfall found the motorcade in Pagsanjan, but even the darkness did not deter the people to patiently wait for Moreno’s caravan to pass through their communities. “They’re still going out at night,” Moreno could only mutter in awe at the people’s enthusiasm.
The motorcade that started at 10 a.m. in the town of Sta. Maria ended in the town of Pila at 9:30 in the evening, with just three brief stops – when Moreno visited the San Sebastian Parish Church in Lumban to offer a prayer of thanks and divine guidance, when he delivered a short message in the town center of Pagsanjan, and a courtesy call to Laguna Gov. Ramil Hernandez at the Provincial Capitol in Sta. Cruz.
“Thank you very much for your warm welcome to us. We are losing our tiredness because of all the people, we are warmly received,” Moreno said, in Pagsanjan while standing on top of the driver’s cab of the vehicle.
“What do you want? Do you want to be different? Blue is the color of peace. Blue and blue linger in the minds of every Filipino. Don’t get bored, don’t give up. God has mercy we can survive. I will carry you. If we are lucky, we will try to lift the lives of every Filipino in this pandemic,” Moreno vowed.
It was a reiteration of his earlier message in Sta. Maria before the motorcade started, wherein he asked for the full support of the people of Laguna. Moreno was welcomed in Sta. Maria town by Mayor Cindy Carolino and her husband, congressional candidate Tony Carolino. Both are running under Aksyon Demokratiko.
In that speech, Moreno said he will address the inequality brought about by the elitist democracy that ensued after the Marcos dictatorship which had brought the country and its people nowhere.
He said it is this inequality that prompted him to apply for the presidency, to give the people an alternative option, and a better option other than the usual political families that have lorded over the Philippines over the past 40 years, and who are now again vying for power.
“I desperately need your help. At the right time, in the Philippines, every citizen is equal, no one is poor, no one is middle class, no one is rich. All over the country, from Luzon to Visayas, to Mindanao, each of us, including our generation, will have equal opportunity,” he stressed.
If elected president, Moreno said he will address the perennial problems of poverty, hunger, unemployment, inequality and social injustice in the country.
He will focus on providing the minimum basic needs of the people – housing, education, health care and jobs – through the efficient and prudent management of government resources. These form the main pillars of his 10-Point Bilis Kilos Economic Agenda.