For Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Joseph Manotoc, the mere presence of former senator Bongbong Marcos and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte in his province Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 16 says a lot about the tandem.
Manotoc is the nephew of Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) standard-bearer Marcos, who incidentally traces his roots to the province.
"Unang-una nagpapasalamat po kami kay (First of all we thank our) Uncle Bong, our former senator Bongbong Marcos and to Mayora Inday Sara Duterte for coming and not taking Ilocos Norte or Ilocandia for granted," the governor said in a chance interview.
"Kasi alam naman po natin na medyo expected na buhos ang mga boto para sa kanila. Subalit pumunta pa rin sila to show their support for our kakailian, our--mga fellow Ilocanos (As we already know, it's somewhat expected that the votes here will pour for them. And yet they still went here to show their support to our kakailian, our fellow Ilocanos)," he noted.
The Marcoses have commanded the Ilocano vote for decades, thanks mainly to the popularity of the late former strongman President Ferdinand Marcos. The late president, who was born in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte, is ex-senator Marcos's father.
Marcos, Duterte-Carpio, and Manotoc all met at a local restaurant before riding a motorcade around the province with other members of their election ticket.
The governor said that the Ilocanos' #MatalinongBoto2022 would be solid for the so-called "UniTeam".
"We thank them, we welcome them and or course we pledge our support to the BBM-Sara slate entirely and ito pong Ilocos Norte na probinsya po natin ay hindi naman ganun karami ang boto, pero solid naman and boto namin (our province of Ilocos Norte doesn't have that many votes, but our votes are solid). And I'm sure solid din ang boto ng Ilocandia para sa BBM-Sara ticket (Ilocandia's votes will also be solid for the BBM-Sara ticket)," Manotoc said.