GUIMBAL, Iloilo--Vice presidential candidate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte has given her most impassioned endorsement of Bongbong Marcos yet.
During the UniTeam's Visayas "miting de avance" here by the bay, Duterte vouched for Marcos's character and told the tens of thousands of supporters here that the latter would never make deals with the country’s enemies.
"Bongbong Marcos will never sleep with the enemies of the state," the lady mayor said of her May 9 poll partner. Her statement was met with cheers.
Before this, Duterte, the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) chairperson, told the story of "Larry", a Davao City fish porter who died from a bomb attack by "a group that wants to bring our government down". She didn't specify which group she was referring to.
"As a mayor, pag ikaw namamatayan na ganyan, hindi mo yan makakalimutan (when somebody dies on you like that, you will not forget it)," the presidential daughter said.
She said the Davao City explosion took place on April 28, 2017, less than two months after she gave birth to her youngest child, Stone Fish.
"Every time na tumitingin ako sa mga anak ko, nakikita ko ang anak ni Larry--mga bata na nawalan ng tatay dahil sa mga grupo, sa mga tao na gustong ipabagsak ang gobyerno (Every time that I look at my kids, I see Larry's children--children that lost their father because of groups, because of people who want to bring down the government)," she said.
Duterte then hammered home her point by linking Larry's story to Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) standard-bearer Marcos.
"Si Bongbong Marcos hindi nakipag-usap sa mga grupo na gusto ipabagsak ang gobyerno. Sa kampanyang ito hindi sya nakipagkasundo sa mga tao o mga grupo na sumusuporta sa mga grupo na gusto ipabagsak ang gobyerno (Bongbong Marcos didn't talk to groups that want to bring down the government. During this campaign, he didn't talk to people or groups that support groups that want to bring down the government).
"Yan si Bongbong Marcos. Hindi niya yan ginawa para lang manalo siya (That's Bongbong Marcos. He didn't do that just to ensure his victory)," added Duterte, as if comparing one thing to another.
"Yan si Bongbong marcos, iboto niyo (That's Bongbong Marcos, vote for him)," Duterte further said.
Marcos and his running mate Davao are consistent frontrunners in pre-election surveys for president and vice president, respectively.