DIGOS CITY, Davao del Sur--UniTeam senatorial bets took turns on Wednesday, March 30 to prop up presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos, whom they acknowledged was being criticized left and right.
On Wednesday morning in Carmen, Davao del Norte, Senate hopeful Robin Padilla told the crowd during a campaign rally, "Gusto ko lamang pong ipaalam sa inyo: Marami pong bumabatikos, marami pong tumitira, marami pong pumupuna sa aming presidente, Bongbong Marcos (I just want you to know: I lot of people are criticizing, assailing, and bashing our president, Bongbong Marcos)."
"Kesyo ganito, kesyo ganun. Mga kababayan, isa lang po masasabi ko: wala pong nararapat na maging pangulo ng Pilipinas kung hindi si Bongbong Marcos (They say this, they say that. My countrymen, I can only say one thing: nobody else is worthy of becoming president than Bongbong Marcos)," noted the popular movie actor.
Another movie turned politician, former Senator Jinggoy Estrada, made similar allusions to the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) standard-bearer.
"Niyuyurak ang kanyang pagkatao (They are destroying his integrity)," Estrada said of Marcos.
"Ngunit habang hinihila nang hinihila nila pababa si Bongbong Marcos, unti-unti naman inaangat nang inaangat ng sambayanang Pilipino si Bongbong Marcos (But while they keep pulling Bongbong Marcos down, the Filipino people slowly but surely raise him up)," the ex-senator said.
Before saying goodbye to the crowd, Estrada made one request: "Kung iboboto niyo po si Bongbong Marcos at si Sara Duterte, sana huwag niyo naman po ako kalilimutan. Baka naman...(If you're going to vote for Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte, hopefully you won't forget about me. Perhaps...)"
Former presidential spokesman Harry Roque, another senatorial aspirant under the UniTeam, also raised the issue on the bashing of Marcos during his speech at the ticket's grand rally here.
Roque said that most of those signing mud at Marcos "are from Luzon, where there are a lot of people greedy with power".
Marcos and Duterte top-bill the UniTeam. They are also consistent leaders in presidential and vice presidential surveys, respectively.