President-elect Bongbong Marcos made a personal appearance Thursday, June 23 in Bacoor City, Cavite to thank residents of the province for backing him in a huge way during the May 9, 2022 elections.
Marcos appeared as a guest of honor during the city government's program for its 10th cityhood anniversary.
It was the 64-year-old's first participation in a public engagement since being declared the winning of the presidential race, something that he highlighted in his speech.
Marcos said that Bacoor's first couple, Mayor Lani Mercado and Senator Bong Revilla Jr., were surprised that he actually made it to the event. He then told the audience that he feels indebted to them.
"Sabi ko naman hindi naman maari na palampasin ko, ito na yung una ko na public appearance mula nung election (I said, I cannot let this pass, this is my first public appearance since the elections)," the 64-year-old incoming leader said.
"At nung natanggap ko ang imbitasyon galing sa inyong butihin mayor at sinabi ko siguro naman ay karapat-dapat na ang una kong paglabas bilang President-elect ay magpunta ako at magpasalamat ako sa mga tiga-Bacoor at sa mga tiga-Cavite sa inyong ibinigay na resulta sa akin dito sa nakaraan na halalan (And when I received the invite from your good mayor, I said it's just proper that my first public appearance as President-elect should be to go and give my thanks to residents of Bacoor and the entirety of Cavite for the result you gave me during the last elections)," Marcos said.
"'Burger' kayong lahat sa akin (I say 'burger' to all of you)," he added, much to the delight of the crowd.
The "burger" expression was a call-back to a campaign slogan of the UniTeam tandem of Marcos and his running mate, Vice President-elect Sara Duterte.
"Kaya naman ako'y magpapasalamat sa inyong lahat, sa inyong tiga-Bacoor, sa lahat ng Caviteño, at alam ko marami sa inyo ang tumulong sa amin dito sa nakaraang halalan (That's why I'm here to thank all of you, residents of Bacoor and all of you from Cavite, and I know that a lot of you here helped us during the past elections)," Marcos said.
"Lagi ko pong sinasabi, itong tagumpay ng tambalang Marcos at tsaka Duterte at lahat ng UniTeam ay hindi lang tagumpay ng mga kandidato; ito ay tagumpay niyo rin dahil hindi po namin nagawa ito, at lalung-lalo na hindi po nangyari yung kalaki-laki na boto na nakuha namin, na 31 million para sa akin, 32 million para kay Inday Sara, kung hindi sa tulong ninyo, kung hindi sa inyong pagmamahal kung hindi sa inyong suporta (I always say that this, the victory of the Marcos-Duterte UniTeam isn't exclusive to the candidates; this is also your victory because if not all your help, your love and your support, we would not have achieved this and we would not have garnered such a huge number of votes, 31 million for me, and 32 million for Inday Sara)," he further said.
The UniTeam presidential bet was the top vote-getter in Cavite last May 9 with 1.09 million votes. A far second was opposition leader Vice President Leni Robredo, who got less than 487,000 votes.
Caviteños showed way more love for Marcos than their very own Senator Panfilo Lacson, who garnered less than 90,000 votes in the Palace race.