The political alliance forged between PDP Laban presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte and the One Cebu party led by the Garcia family could well be the game changer for both candidates in the May elections.
Jun Evasco, campaign manager of presidential bet Duterte, referred to the new political alliance between the Davao City mayor and One Cebu as mutually beneficial.
“Mayor Duterte can gain more votes in the vote-rich province while One Cebu gubernatorial candidate Winston Garcia will also benefit from Duterte’s popularity among Cebuanos,” Evasco said.
“With this strong alliance, I predict that Cebu will go all-out for the two candidates and Duterte and Garcia will trounce their respective rivals in the May 9 polls,” Evasco said.
Cebu has the biggest voting population in the country with 2.7 million voters.
PDP Laban spokesperson Paola Alvarez, for her part, also welcomed the Duterte-Garcia alliance forged in Cebu over the weekend as “a powerhouse combination that will no doubt spell the big difference for Duterte not only in Cebu province, but also in the Visayas and Mindanao where there are many Cebuanos.”
Alvarez said the PDP Laban has adopted the WinNer tandem, referring to the teamup of Winston Garcia and his vice gubernatorial bet, Nerissa Soon, and thrown its full support behind their candidacies.
Duterte, who is running for the highest elective post with Senator Alan Peter Cayetano as his vice presidential candidate, is campaigning on a platform of “Tunay na Pagbabago” anchored on a tough anti-crime and anti-corruption stance drawn from his long experience as mayor of Davao City.
Garcia is running for Cebu governor with a comprehensive platform of infrastructure development designed to make the province another Singapore or Hong Kong in the future.
“The inclusive economic growth program of Mayor Duterte is in perfect sync with One Cebu’s vision of a truly progressive and modern Cebu that can compete with other vibrant and dynamic economic centers in this part of the world,” Alvarez said.
Evasco said the Duterte-Cayetano tandem’s recently forged alliance with One Cebu will allow the two sides “to reinforce each other’s strengths and create a bandwagon effect not only in the southern parts of the country but also in Luzon and Metro Manila, with more politicians switching loyalties and extending all-out support for Duterte’s presidential bid.”
Garcia and Soon have already declared their full support behind the vice presidential bid of Senator Peter Cayetano, whom they described as an “adoptive son of Cebuanos.”