The camp of Bongbong Marcos has claimed that it now has the support of 73 out of the 81 governors in the country as far as the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) standard-bearer's candidacy is concerned.
This, after at least 15 current and former governors and trooped to the BBM (Bongbong Marcos) headquarters in Mandaluyong City on Sunday night, April 10 to reiterate their backing of his presidential bid.
It was the second round of meetings between Marcos and the local chief executives for the consolidation of command votes in their respective provinces. Last April 3, nine incumbent governors and one gubernatorial candidate met with the Palace race frontrunner.
“Yung sinabi ni Chavit na almost 90 percent ng (What Chavit said that almost 90 percent of) governors are already for Bongbong, totoo yun (that's true). Right now we have a new President,” Quezon Governor Danilo Suarez was quoted as saying in a statement from the Marcos camp Monday morning, April 11.
The statement didn't give a full breakdown of the 73 governors supposedly on the side of the UniTeam presidential bet.
Singson, who is the and League of Municipalities of the Philippines president, earlier said that 90 percent of the governors are now fully supporting the UniTeam of Marcos and his running mate, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.
“I don’t see any unprecedented event that can hamper the victory of Bongbong,” Suarez added.
Singson also called on the governors to work doubly hard to make sure that Marcos would be the first “majority president” since the multi-party system was implemented in the country.
The governors said that the majority win is very possible based on the results of all the respectable surveys where Marcos garnered more than 50 percent of the voters' preference.
“That would be our job . It’s easy to sell BBM, eh maayos na eh (It’s already prepared),” Suarez added.
For his part, Isabela Governor Rodito Albano said that there is no need for UniTeam to campaign in their province.
“Maski hindi ko siya ikampanya sigurado siya sa amin. Mukhang mas mataas pa ang boto namin kay BBM kaysa sa Ilocos (His victory is assured even if I don't campaign for him. It looks like our BBM votes will outpace those from Ilocos),” Albano boasted. Marcos's home region is Ilocos.
Batangas Governor Hermilando Mandanas echoed the governors' sentiments, saying he will push for the protection of Marcos’ votes in his province.
“Kailangan bantayan (We need to watch over the votes). We have to show na that BBM is the solution. It’s really BBM na talagang nagpu-push para sa unity (who is really pushing for unity). At yan ang hinahanap nating lahat (And that's what everybody is looking for),” Mandanas said.
For his part, Bohol Governor Arthur Yap also assured that majority of Boholanos will vote for the UniTeam bet.
“Sa Bohol may bagong survey kami kalalabas lang last Friday nasa 54 percent si BBM. Siyempre ta-trabahuhin pa natin yan pero wala na akong nakikitang problema (In Bohol, survey results released only last Friday showed that 54 percent is for BBM. Of course we will work on that further but I don't see any more problems),” he said.
Also present were Governors Dax Cua of Quirino, Susan Yap of Tarlac, Jose Riano of Romblon, Florencio Miraflores of Aklan, Philip Tan of Misamis Occidental, Eduardo Gadiano Mindoro Occidental, Alexander Pimentel of Surigao del Sur, Bonifacio Lacwasan of Mountain Province, Bai Mariam Mangudadatu of Maguindanao, Suharto Mangudadatu of Sultan Kudarat, and former Governor Jun Ynares III of Rizal.
Ynares represented Rizal Governor Rebecca Ynares in the meeting.