TAGUM CITY, Davao del Norte--If there was a theme for UniTeam's "miting de avance" here on Thursday night, May 5, it was "victory".
And it were the UniTeam's two biggest crowd-pleasers in Filipino rap legend Andrew E and singer-host Toni Gonzaga who set the tone for it.
Incidentally, it's Andrew E and Gonzaga who are tasked to hype up the audience for Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte and former senator Marcos, respectively, during every UniTeam rally.
On Thursday night, Andrew E, being the emcee that he is, injected a bit of word play in his routine for the Tagum folk.
"Wala ba kayong napapansin? Ano ang maaaring susunod na salita sa 'Tagum'? 'Tagum-pay!' (Don't you notice anything? What's a word that you can place next to 'Tagum'? Tagum-pay! )," he said.
He then made the mammoth crowd chant "Amoy na amoy na ang tagumpay," which roughly translates to "We can already smell victory." The people obliged.
Filipinos will troop to polling precincts this coming Monday, May 9 to choose their next set of national and local leaders.
Later in the program, Gonzaga came out on stage, dressed to the nines in a red sequined-gown and performed a song.
She alluded to the Marcos-Duterte tandem's supposedly imminent victory in the elections by using the rather high slit of her gown in an analogy.
"Any taas ng slit, ang taas. Parang si BBM-Sara--ang taas sa lahat ng survey! Sumabay lang ang slit ko ngayong gabi. Excited na ba kayong bumoto? (The slit is very high, very high. It's like BBM-Sara--they're very highly placed in all surveys! The slit of my dress tried to match it tonight. Are you excited to vote?)" Gonzaga said.
The miting de avance here was the second of three for UniTeam and the one designated for Mindanao. The Visayas iteration of the pre-election send-off was held in Guimbal, Iloilo. The Luzon one will take place in Parañaque City on May 7.
In her speech here, vice presidential bet Duterte spoke of her appreciation to the crowd, which rode out a heavy downpour.
She egged them on by reminding them that the polls--and their potential victory--are only a few days away. The people replied by chanting "Daog na!," or "You've already won!"
The local chief executive made an aggessive pitch for the UniTeam's 11 remaining senatorial candidates, afterwhich she retold the story of "Larry", which she first shared to an audience at the Guimbal miting de avance.
Marcos, for his part, said they didn't make a mistake in choosing Tagum as the site for Thursday's event given how ŕesilent and passionate the crowd was.
"Nakakataba po ng puso na makita dito sa Davao del Norte, dito sa Tagum City, buo ang suporta ng ating mga kababayan para sa UniTeam at sa tambalang Marcos-Duterte (It warms the heart to see that here in Davao del Norte, here in Tagum City, our countrymen's support for the UniTeam and Marcos-Duterte tandem is consolidated)," the presidential candidate said.
"Panalo na! Basta't bantayan niyo yung boto sa Lunes. Walang tulugan! Dahil alam naman natin kapag tayo natulog, maraming nangyayaring hindi kanais-nais (We've won! As long as you watch over the votes on Monday. No sleeping! Because we know that when we sleep, a lot of undesirable things happen)," he said.