Like during the campaign run of the now-defunct "UniTeam," an alliance formed by President Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte during the 2022 elections, Marcos has once again turned to advocating for unity in solving the country's problems as he endorsed his senatorial bets in Dumaguete City.
The President highlighted that the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas, short for "Alyansa," carries the same principle he and his former ally Duterte adopted in the last elections—the unity between different political alliances.
Marcos ran under the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, while Duterte ran under the Hugpong ng Pagbabago. Their political parties were among the groups in the country that formed an alliance in the 2022 polls.
"Ito po ang aming inihaharap sa inyo, ito pong Alyansa. Bakit po tawag sa amin ay Alyansa (This is what we are presenting to you, the Alyansa. Why was it called Alyansa)?" Marcos said in his speech at the party's rally in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental on Thursday night, Feb. 20.
"Dahil kung titingnan n'yo po, kung minsan pagka lumalabas ang mga kandidato, pare-pareho pong kulay ang suot na t-shirt. E, kami iba-iba dahil sa iba’t ibang partido kami nanggagaling (If you look closely, other candidates go out wearing the same color of shirt. Us, however, are clad in different colors because we belong to different parties)," Marcos underscored.
He told the Dumaguete crowd that the candidates under the Alyansa agreed on joining the alliance, believing that unity can help solve the country's problems.
"Ngunit pumayag po silang lahat na magsama-sama dahil nakakaunawa po sila na ang tanging solusyon para sa mga problema natin ay ang magkaisa (But they agreed to come together because they understand that the sole solution to the country's problems is unity)," Marcos said.
The Chief Executive said this after reiterating the various actions and manners his candidates would not do in order to solve certain issues such as illegal drugs, crimes, territorial threats and unemployment.
Like in his remarks in the previous rallies, Marcos said his senatorial bets would not rely on bloody operations just to address the drug problem in the country. His senatorial slate would not surrender an inch of the country's territory and would protect the country's interest.
He further said his slate would not run to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) operations in an attempt to boost employment.
The Alyansa is composed of five political parties, namely the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD), Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), Nacionalista Party (NP) and National Unity Party (NUP).
Previously in the early stages of the Alyansa, where the President stood witness in the signing of an alliance agreement with these political parties, he always emphasized that beyond the partnership, the Alliance is a commitment to finding common grounds and working together in addressing the urgent needs of every Filipino.