BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines – Organizers of the BBM-Sara Uniteam expect a crowd of at least 80,000 here today for a grand rally as the unified ticket of former Sen. Ferdinand Marcos and his running mate, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte is scheduled to arrive for its first show of strength.
Negros Occidental, the sugar capital of the country, has close to two million voters and is ranked sixth as a vote-rich province, government records show.
“That is a minimum estimate,” Negros Occidental Vice-Governor Jeffrey Ferrer told DNX about the crowd as he called on supporters of other presidential candidates to “just campaign for your choices” and not resort to negative campaigning.
Ahead of the arrival of the duo, their senatorial candidate, lawyer Larry Gadon, told DNX he decided to run under BBM because of his “vision for the country.”
He called Marcos, the namesake of a former president, as “the only qualified candidate” as he called Vice-President Leni Robredo a “total robot” who only does the bidding of her party, an indication he said that she lacks strength.
Caravans, one from the neighboring city of Silay, are expected to come here starting 3:30 in the afternoon to be capped by a grand rally at the city’s Reclamation Area, a wide ground that organizers hope can accommodate their expected crowd.
Ferrer added at least 25 mayors of the 32 towns and cities here are supporting the ticket with the number expected to increase.
