A governor from a province that went "yellow" in 2016 is promising a huge win for the Bongbong Marcos-Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio tandem in the upcoming May 2022 polls.
According to Samar Governor Reynolds Michael Tan, the province will deliver a 100,000-vote margin of victory for the UniTeam duo. That figure is one-sixth of Samar's total voting population.
"We are expecting or we are aspiring na makalamang talaga yung BBM-Sara tandem ng more than 100,000 votes sa Samar (to give the BBM-Sara tandem a margin of victory of more than 100,000 in Samar)," Tan said in a chance interview at the Manila Hotel tent in Ermita, Manila on Wednesday, March 16.
"We are confident na lagpas (it will be over) 100,000, through our support and all of the support of the people who are present today, I think achievable yung 100,000," Tan said, referring to the event at the Manila Hotel that he and his province-mates attended.
Vice presidential bet Mayor Duterte, daughter of President Duterte, graced the event.
Tan's prediction is somewhat bold, since the province neither carried the elder Duterte nor Marcos to victory in their presidential and vice presidential contests, respectively, in May 2016.
In the case of the 2016 presidential race, the governor said Liberal Party (LP) member former senator Mar Roxas beat the elder Duterte in Samar, "but only by a small margin". Roxas's running mate then was his party-mate, then-Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo.
Tan insists that times have changed and that Samarnons will how their "101 percent" support for presidential candidate Marcos and his running mate, Mayor Duterte.
"I have expressed that Team Aksyon Padayon, which is the local group of Samar would be supporting both BBM and Sara tandem. Samar has 951 barangays and 80 percent of all barangay chairmen are with us and all of us are expressing support for BBM and Sara," he said.
As for the mayors in the province, the governor said that 19 out of the 21 incumbent mayors are backing Marcos and Mayor Duterte.
"We have conducted several local surveys and we have seen that more than 70 percent of Samarnons prefer BBM-Sara tandem over doon sa mga (the other) presidential and vice presidential aspirants," Tan said.
He said that this time, the Samar voters' affinity to Marcos, whose mother is from nearby Leyte; and to the Bisaya-speaking Mayor Duterte will shine through.
Robredo will be running again in May, this time for the presidency, opposite her rival Marcos.