CARMEN, Davao del Norte – Thousands of people in red and white shirts flocked to the municipal grounds here for the proclamation rally of administration senatorial bets in this year’s midterm elections.
About 30,000 people from different parts of the Davao region witnessed the Mindanao leg of the proclamation rally of the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas. More than half of the crowd gathered outside the municipal grounds.
About 60 buses lined up on the highway were reportedly hired to transport the crowd from different parts of the region.
PEOPLE attend the proclamation rally for senatorial bets under the administration Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas on Saturday, Feb. 15, in Carmen, Davao del Norte. The event was graced by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. (Keith Bacongco)
One of them was a farmer from Boston in Davao Oriental, some 170 kilometers away northeast of this town.
He said they left Boston at 5 a.m. and arrived in this town at 2 p.m. "Our leader in the village asked us to come here. He did not say if we will get something in return but I only came here to see (Manny) Pacquiao. Then we will return home after the rally," he said in the vernacular.
A group of women in red shirts said that they were workers of a banana firm in Santo Tomas town, some 25 kilometers north from this town. "Our supervisor asked us to come here and we will get an overtime pay," one of the women told Manila Bulletin.
She added that they were provided with free lunch and snacks by the organizers.
A portion of the national highway linking Panabo and this town was closed to traffic. Motorists going to Tagum City were forced to take an alternative route via a longer coastal road going to Barangay Tuganay. Motorists going to Santo Tomas were directed to take Tadeco Road.
Police told motorists that only senators and other Very Important Persons were allowed to pass the main highway as part of security measures.
Senatorial bets took delivered speeches while waiting for President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to grace the event. The President delivered his speech at around 5:44 p.m. and lasted less than 15 minutes.
This town, about 40 kilometers north of Davao City, is one of the bailiwicks of the Special Assistant to the President Anton Lagdameo, a grandson of "banana king" Antonio Floirendo Sr., said to be a staunch supporter of President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr.
The Floirendos own over 6,000 hectares of banana plantation across several towns of this province.
Lagdameo was congressman of the second district of Davao del Norte from 2007 to 2016. Under his district are the towns of Braulio E. Dujali, Carmen, and Santo Tomas and the cities of Panabo and Samal Island.
The first district of Davao del Norte is represented by former House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, one of former President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s longtime allies.
Davao region has almost four million registered voters, according to a report from the Commission on Elections last year. Davao del Norte has the most with almost 722,000 registered voters. Davao City has the highest number of registered voters with over a million.
In the 2022 presidential elections, Marcos earned a little over 470,000 votes while running mate then Mayor Sara Duterte had 500,000 votes.
Davao region is not considered among the top vote-rich regions in the country but holding the Mindanao leg of the proclamation rally for administration bets in this province will perhaps test the waters in the region, a known territory of former President Duterte as well as Vice President Duterte.
Many politicians from known political clans in the Davao region used to form the Hugpong ng Pagbabago, the electoral alliance formed by the younger Duterte in 2018.
However, the HNP expelled board member Carlo Uy, Tagum City Mayor Rey Uy, Davao de Oro Vice Gov. Jayvee Tyron Uy, and Davao de Oro first district Rep. Maricar Zamora last April after “their actions have gone against the party’s interest.”
The younger Duterte remains popular in the region but the effects of her impeachment case on their local political allies in this year’s midterm elections remains to be seen.