BALAYAN, Batangas—Governor Hermilando “Dodo” Mandanas on Thursday, March 1 expressed confidence that presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will get the majority of votes in this province--a bold prediction considering that Marcos Jr. lost in the province to Vice President Leni Robredo during the 2016 vice presidential race.
“Hindi lamang Balayan , buong Batangas...dahil kaisa kami sa diwa at ipinaglalaban na kailangan na natin magkaisa (It’s not only Balayan that will support them but the whole Batangas, because we are one in their fight for unity),” Mandanas told reporters in an ambush interview after the UniTeam’s proclamation rally at the municipal center.
Currently, there are some 1.8 million voters from the province.
The governor said that Batangueños are one with Marcos Jr. and his running mate, aspiring vice president Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, in their call for unity.
He said Batangueños would rather “lose their wealth” than their “dignity".
“Yung mga nakaraang eleksyon kakaiba ang mga kondisyon, ngayon ang kailangan natin ay pamumuno na kapares ni BBM (Bongbong Marcos) at ni Sara... Kailangan lagi nating didinggin, ano ang kailangan natin ngayon at sa hinaharap (During the past elections, the condition were different. But now, what we need is the leadership of BBM and Sara. We always need to listen to what we need now, and for the future)," he added.
Echoing the oft-repeated campaign message of Marcos Jr., Mandanas said there is a need for unity in a bid to uplift Filipino pride.
“Hindi yung magbangayan. Talagang magkaisa (We shouldn’t fight against each other. We should really be united),” he said.
Marcos Jr. and Duterte’s rally in the province apparently gathered a smaller crowd compared to their rallies in other provinces.
This was the duo's first time in the province since the campaign season kicked off last Feb. 8.
Batangas 1st district Rep. Eileen Ermita-Buhain, who was also present, urged her constituents to vote for the tandem because they both “came from the executive branch” of the government and thus know the plight of those in the local level.
Marcos served as Ilocos Norte governor from 1998 to 2007, while Duterte-Carpio is currently a second-term mayor of Davao City.
During the 2016 vice presidential race, Marcos Jr. garnered some 260,000 votes from Batangas compared to Robredo’s 513,000. Robredo is viewed as Marcos Jr.'s main rival in the May 2022 polls.