Presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos's eldest son, Sandro Marcos, asked his fellow Ilocanos on late Wednesday night, Feb. 17 to help return a favor that Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio has done for their family.
The younger Marcos was talking on stage at the BBM-Sara UniTeam proclamation rally at the Paoay Sand Dunes when he said in Ilocano: "Ammu nyo apo naadaddu met inaramid ni Inday Sara para ni Apo BBM. Nu mapan kami ijay Davao ti imbaga ni Apo Inday Sara ngen kababayan niya, 'Protektahan si President Bongbong Marcos.'"
Translated to English, he said: "You know apo, Inday Sara has done a lot for Apo BBM. When we go to Davao, Apo Inday Sara would tell her people, 'Let's protect President Bongbong Marcos."
"Kaya ti kayat ko imbaga da kayo detuy, detuy nga norte protektahan natin si Vice President Inday Sara Duterte dahil po napaka laking utang na loob talaga bilang panganay bilang anak ni Apo BBM (So what I want to tell you, the north, let us protect Vice President Inday Sara Duterte, because as Apo BBM's eldest son, I really have a huge debt of gratitude)," he continued.
"Sa lahat po sa inyo na nandito ngayon, sana po maysa nga boto para kay BBM, maysa nga boto para kay Inday Sara Duterte, apo (To all of you here right now, hopefully we give one vote for BBM and one vote for Inday Sara Duterte, apo)," the aspiring Ilocos Norte congressman added.
"Apo", a word that Sandro generously used throughout his speech to refer to the visiting Inday Sara and the crowd in general, is an Ilocano honorific title that's used for the elderly or people who are respected and important.
Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) vice presidential candidate Duterte-Carpio actually refers to the elder Marcos as "Apo BBM". The latter, who is an ex-senator, traces his roots to Ilocos Norte, particularly in the municipality of Sarrat.
The BBM-Sara UniTeam tandem is the frontrunning tandem for the top two positions of the land, at least according to pre-election surveys.
The elections will take place on May 9, 2022.