Partido Reporma standard bearer Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson and his running mate Senate President Vicente Sotto III said they are certain that Filipinos’ minds are not closed to voting for the most deserving candidates even if they are coming from areas considered as bastions of certain political personalities.
Lacson and Sotto said this is true especially after their campaign sortie to northern provinces over the weekend where the so-called “Solid North” mentality is prevalent for one candidate heading into the May 2022 elections.
Following a two-day visit to Baguio City and stops at Pangasinan and Nueva Ecija, the Lacson-Sotto tandem saw for themselves how warmly they were received by businessmen, farmers, and tricycle drivers disproving such mentality.
Lacson said they saw for themselves the people’s reaction after they they explained their reform advocacies for the country for the next six years once they gain the people’s mandate.
“As you may be aware, ‘di ba, ‘yung basta (those in the) Ilocos Region mostly taga-region nila ‘yung tinatangkilik (they patronize the other candidate),” Lacson said in the forum in Urdaneta City, considered a gateway to Northern Luzon.
“Pero sa nakita namin kanina maganda ‘yung response kasi nga issue-based na naman ‘yung tinalakay namin na mga problema, (But as we saw earlier, we got a good response because our discussion of their problems was issue-based),” the senator further explained.
The Solid North popularly refers to the electoral support of northern Philippine provinces to the family of President Ferdinand Marcos, specifically, and other politicians of Ilocano descent.
The camp of UniTeam Alliance presidential candidate former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. and his running mate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio considers the Solid North provinces as their bailiwick.
But over the weekend, the Lacson-Sotto were able to barnstorm Baguio City, Pangasinan and Nueva Ecija to woo voters in the northern region. It was also during their visit to Baguio City where Mayor Benjamin Magalong pledged his support to the Lacson-Sotto tandem.