Subtle flexes--in this case, projections of election victory--were seen with presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos and his running mate, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte during their appearance at UniTeam's third and final "miting de avance" on Saturday night, May 7 in Parañaque City.
When Marcos first appeared on stage during the six-hour program, he didn't greet the crowd by himself, which would be the normal thing that he does.
Instead, the former senator and Ilocos Norte governor brought on stage his wife Liza and their three children, Sandro, Simon, and Vincent. The Parañaque rally at the open grounds fronting Solaire Hotel was the first time that Marcos brought his entire family to a campaign event.
While it might not seem much, this visual evoked that of a winning Palace bet as he or she is accompanied by his or her family during the oath-taking ceremony after the polls.
Speaking of the oath-taking ceremony, Duterte made a reference to it in a joke during her speech at the UniTeam campaign finale.
For the event, the presidential daughter ditched her usual t-shirt and jeans attire for a barong blouse, which is more formal.
During one moment in her speech, the mammoth crowd began the familiar chant "Panalo ka na!" which means "You've already won!" This has been heard many times in UniTeam sorties during the course of the 90-day campaign period.
"Kasi sinabi niyo panalo na ako, nag-barong ako. Akala ko oath-taking na eh (Since you said I've already won, I wore a barong. I thought it was alteady the oath-taking)," she said in jest.
"We have proven that a united Philippines is coming very, very soon," added the lady mayor. The elections will take place on Monday, May 9.
Marcos, the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) standard-bearer; and Duterte, the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) chairperson, have been consistent frontrunners in pre-election surveys for president and vice president, respectively.
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