Presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos has been using vlogs to reach as wide an audience as possible ahead of the May 9, 2022 elections. With now over 200 of these vlogs posted on his YouTube channel, a scouring of noteworthy snippets in these videos is in order.
In BBM Vlog no.208, Marcos addresses head-on the question of why he chose "pagkakaisa" or unity as his catchword for the campaign.
Non-Marcos supporters have turned to social media to memefy the endlessly repeated call, and the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) standard-bearer somewhat alluded to the ridicule that it has been receiving.
"Marami ang nagtatanong, bakit 'pagkakaisa'? Motherhood statement lang ba ito? Papano ba tayo babangon at uunlad sa pagkakaisa? (A lot are asking, why 'unity'? Is this just a motherhood statement? How can we rise up and achieve progress through unity?)" the former senator and Ilocos Norte governor asked, as if reading his viewers' minds.
The meat of his argument came in the form of an analogy as he likened the country to a canoe or a boat.
"Bakit nga pagkakaisa ang ating mensahe? Una ay direksyon. Saan tayo pupunta? Bilang bansa, ano ang gusto nating marating sa loob ng anim na taon? Samsung taon? Dalawampung taon? Kelangan magkaisa tayong tukuyin ito (Why is our message about unity? First is direction. Where are we headed to? As a country, what do we want to achieve in six years? Ten years? Twenty years? We need to unite and answer this).
"Mahirap mag-sagwan ng bangka kapag hindi sabay-sabay o kaya ay iba-ibang direksyon ang gusto puntahan. Kailangan iisa lang (Rowing a boat is difficult if the rowers aren't in tune or are rowing in different directions)," Marcos said.
The Ilocano bet went on to cite an example of a direction forged via unity.
"Gusto ba nating mas gumaling sa manufacturing? Kung ganun ay dito natin dadalhin ang pagpatayo ng ating impastraktura. Dito natin pararamihin ang paaralan na may kurso at ekspertong guro para sa industriyang ito. Dito natin i-align ang ating energy infrastructure para naman mayroon tayong maisagot sa mga requirement ng industriyang ito (Do we want to do better in the realm of manufacturing? If so, then we will align our infrastructure-building to it. We will put up more schools with courses and expert teachers for this industry. We will align our energy infrastructure to it so that we can sustain this industry).
"Kailangan ang direksyon na ito ay malinaw, iisa (This direction must he clear and singular)," he explained.
Marcos also said that Filipinos' willingness to participate in nation-building and achieving this direction also plays a huge part in his vision of progress via unity.
Marcos and his running mate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte refer to themselves as the UniTeam.