There have been a lot of comments lately on both traditional and social media regarding the vaunted "Ilocano vote", which for over half a decade has been the base political support of the Marcoses.
The discussions have been fueled by the northern Luzon swing of the campaigning duo of presidential candidate, former senator Bongbong Marcos and his running mate, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
Giving his two cents on the matter is La Union Governor Emmanuel “Pacoy” Ortega lll, who on Friday, Feb. 18 hosted a courtesy visit from Duterte-Carpio.
According to him, Ilocanos have strong ethic affiliation which inexorably extends to the casting of ballots during each election.
“Kaming mga Ilocano (With us Ilocanos), our affinity with fellow Ilocanos is innate,” said Ortega.
"Siyempre (Of course), La Union is a BBM bailiwick," the governor said, referring to the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) standard-bearer.
Ex-senator Marcos, 64, traces his roots to Ilocos Norte, particularly in the town of Sarrat, where his father, the late strongman President Ferdinand Marcos was born.
By the looks of it, in the case of Ortega, this affinity among the "kakailian" of Ilocandia--even by mere association--is much stronger than affiliation by political party.
Unsurprisingly, the governor predicted that the so-called BBM-Sara UniTeam will win big in La Union come May 9, 2022.
“Marami na akong nakausap dito sa amin, ang feeling ko landslide win ang BBM-Sara dito sa La Union (I've spoken to a lot of people here, and my feeling is that BBM-Sara will score a landslide win here in La Union),” Ortega said.
Marcos and Duterte-Carpio are frontrunners in recent presidential and vice presidential surveys, respectively.