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DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines – The opening salvo of the national campaign period provided an opportunity for top Negros Oriental politicians to show their support for their candidates.
Supporters of Vice President and presidential aspirant Leni Robredo and her running mate, Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, were in full force for the province-wide Grand Caravan on Sunday, February 6, and the Proclamation Rally Viewing Party at the Pantawan People’s Park in Dumaguete City on Tuesday, February 8. Organizers estimated that 1,200 people and 500 vehicles joined the Leni-Kiko caravan.
Negros Oriental Vice Governor Edward Mark Macias, a Liberal Party member challenging reeectionist Governor Roel Degamo in the May 2022 polls, attended both events. He had earlier also welcomed and accompanied Robredo when she visited Negros Oriental on December 21, 2022 to check on and distribute aid to Typhoon Odette survivors.
Degamo, meanwhile, posted pictures on his Facebook page of his attendance at the proclamation rally of UniTeam candidates Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte last February 8 at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan. The caption had the hashtag “#SOLIDBBMSARA.”
The governor previously met with Marcos Jr. and Duterte during their December 29, 2022, visit to give them a briefing on Typhoon Odette’s destruction and to receive aid from their campaign.
The governor, a member of the Nacionalista Party, had supported Liberal Party standard bearer Mar Roxas in the 2016 elections. Roxas and his then-running mate Robredo won in Negros Oriental that year.
Degamo, who is gunning for an unprecedented fourth term in office, has a pending disqualification case before the Commission on Elections.
Robredo won in Negros Oriental in 2016 with more than 255,000 votes. Marcos Jr. finished at a distant third with around 66,000 votes. In the presidential race, Roxas won with 248,000 votes, while Rodrigo Duterte came in second with 173,000 votes.
Curious mix of Robredo supporters
First District Representative Jocelyn Sy-Limkaichong and Dumaguete City Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo – both LP members – participated in the caravan in support of Robredo and Pangilinan.
Limkaichong and Remollo are seeking reelection, both for her third and last term. They joined Macias in meeting the Vice President in December.,
“It is admittedly a big challenge and an uphill fight for Leni and Kiko to win presidency and the vice presidency respectively. But as far as Dumaguete is concerned, I’m very confident that both will win here. Judging from the performance of VP Leni in 2016, she started only 1%. Then, she was so steady, focused, and everytime na she spoke and met people, hinay hinay nakumbinse (they were gradually convinced). Nakita gud nila kung kinsa’y sinsero nga naa’y gwapong mga plataporma, mao na’y na-elect siya diri (you can really see who is sincere and who has a good platform, that’s why she was elected here),” Remollo said in an interview with local media on February 7.
Robredo-Pangilinan supporters in the province are a curious mix. For instance, lawyer Golda Benjamin, a leading advocate against Remollo’s 174-hectare Smart City reclamation project, was the keynote speaker at the February 6 closing program for the caravan in support of the tandem. Vice Governor Macias was among the champions of the ordinance banning reclamation in all marine protected areas of Negros Oriental, which was initially vetoed by Governor Roel Degamo before a Sangguniang Panlalawigan override.
The No To 174 Dumaguete Coalition even lauded Robredo for her stance on reclamation projects, which she had discussed during the February 4 KBP presidential forum.
“’Yung economic cost should never come at the cost of ‘yung environment at saka ‘yung mga social cost. Parating kino-consider ano bang epekto nito sa mga taong kumukontra. Ano bang epekto nito sa environment? (The economic cost should never come at the cost of the environmental and the social cost. We should always consider [reclamation’s] effects to those who are opposing. What is its effect on the environment?” Robredo had said.
Robredo had also reiterated the need for mechanisms that will enable all experts’ and stakeholders’ voices to be heard – processes which critics say were not followed prior to the supposed signing of a memorandum of understanding with developer EM Cuerpo Incorporated.
A few vehicles in the February 6 Dumaguete caravan bore “No to 174” signs, while some had signs promoting Remollo’s opponent for the mayoralty race, Provincial Board Member Estanislao Alviola of PROMDI. – Rappler.com
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