Magpale unaffected: Sara Duterte endorses Gwen

CEBU, Philippines — Presidential daughter Sara Duterte yesterday raised the hand of Third District Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia during the campaign caravan of her group, Hugpong ng Pagbabago in Liloan town.

Garcia is gunning for the governorship anew and as far as she is concerned, she is the one Sara is endorsing for the position.

She said Sara’s statement is even more significant – that is, for Garcia to produce more tarpaulins for HNP’s senatorial candidates and put them up across the province.

“Certainly, I will abide by her request. Ipapakita natin sa mga tao ng Cebu iyong katotohanan (Certainly, I will abide by her request. We will show to Cebuanos the truth),” Garcia said.

Last month, during a rally at the Plaza Independencia in Cebu City, Sara’s father, President Rodrigo Duterte, also raised Garcia’s hand.

“I was earlier endorsed by the President himself when he came here last February 24 and I think you witnessed this afternoon the endorsement again of Mayor Sara Duterte… As far as the president’s endorsement is concerned, that was very clear before a crowd of thousands of Cebuanos. This endorsement of Mayor Sara comes on the heels of another one claiming to have been endorsed,” she told reporters.

Garcia is referring to Vice Governor Agnes Magpale who is running against her for governor.

Magpale

In a separate interview, Magpale said she did not claim that Sara is endorsing her.

Recalling an event with Sara present, Magpale said she asked for Sara’s permission to reproduce a photo of them with the Davao mayor raising her hand to which Sara reportedly agreed.

Magpale said cannot claim “sole allegiance” from Duterte because Sara has since said that she would endorse both her and Garcia.

“The endorsement Mayor Inday Sara gave early on to my candidacy was freely given and I don’t believe the hand raising today will stifle my campaign. I am still grateful for the support,” Magpale said.

She said it is reportedly common in other provinces that a political party endorses candidates of opposing parties running for the same position.

At the end of the day, she said, it will be the decision of the Cebuano voters that will prevail.

“I believe that a clean track record without any scandal, graft and corruption, controversies, as well as Ombudsman convictions or ongoing Sandiganbayan cases, will win the hearts and minds of the Cebuano voters. We have a very discriminating electorate here in Cebu. The team continues to remain strong and determined,” Magpale said.

“As far as I know, the alliance is for senatorial candidates… that does not extend to local candidates,” she contended.

HNP line-up

Garcia said her group, One Cebu, pledges to support the senatorial slate of HNP because the candidates there are supporting the President.

“With this alliance between One Cebu and HNP, we commit to deliver and show our support to the chosen senatorial candidates of HNP precisely because One Cebu has always supported President Rodrigo Dutere and these candidates that are now being supported by HNP are those that would be the strong voices of the president in the Senate. So our support for President Duterte will now extend to the chosen candidates of HNP, which will now also be the chosen candidates of One Cebu,” she said.

Garcia is confident that Cebu, a vote-rich province, will deliver for the HNP senatorial candidates.

There are at least 3.1 million voters in Cebu province.

Prior to the signing of the alliance between HNP and One Cebu, Sara said they would want to establish links with local parties to help them campaign for the senatorial candidates.

“Ang Hugpong ng Pagbabago, we support 13 candidates. Kon aduna mi local partners and alliances, in the case of One Cebu, aduna’y mabilin nga mga tawo nga mopadayon og pangampanya ug suporta sa mga senators even if wala na mi diri sa Cebu... mao na among gipanigurado nga naa mi mga partners diri nga padayon nga mangampanya (If we have local partners, we will have people who will campaign for our candidates here even after we leave Cebu… that’s what we want to be assured of),” she said.

Prior to the signing of the alliance, Sara graced the ground breaking ceremony of the Pier 88 port development, which is a joint venture project between a private developer, the Catholic Church (land owner), and the Liloan municipal government led by Garcia’s daughter, Liloan Mayor Christina Frasco. — /JMO (FREEMAN)