Support for Duterte, Marcos snowballs in Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines - Supporters of Rodrigo Duterte have started a Mindanao-wide caravan urging the Davao City mayor to run for president next year.

Starting with 11 in Cagayan de Oro City, the number of vehicles has increased to more than 20 as Duterte supporters joined the convoy while passing through the cities of Iligan and Ozamis, according to Oming Maglangit, Duterte for President Movement spokesman.

“Our convoy is becoming longer as we pass cities and towns,” he told The STAR in a telephone interview over the weekend.

People are lining the streets chanting “Run Duterte run,” Maglangit said.

The caravan is expected to wind up on Aug. 28 in Davao City, where a big ”Duterte for President” rally will be held.  

It was launched after Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. confirmed talking to PDP-Laban formally and informally about a possible alliance when he was in Davao City.

A Marcos-Duterte tandem will link the solid North to the Visayan voters and the Mindanao Muslim, tribal and Christian block votes, according to Marcos loyalist lawyer Oliver Lozano.

They were eyeing an alliance with another party, former senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel, a PDP-Laban stalwart, said last week.

“As a small party, PDP-Laban needs to form an alliance with another party because it cannot win the presidency all by itself,” he said.

The alliance depends on which party would support the same advocacies of PDP-Laban, among them a federal form of government, he added.

PDP-Laban has been pushing for Duterte to be the party’s standard bearer next year.

The Kilusang Bagong Lipunan has proposed the  Duterte-Marcos or Marcos-Duterte tandem in 2016.

Duterte belongs to PDP-Laban and Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod, which he formed as a local political group in the 1990s. It is a registered political party.

Marcos has been meeting with Duterte during his previous visits in Davao City.

Duterte’s father was a Nacionalista Party (NP) governor of the undivided Davao province during the 1950s to 1960s.

The NP has yet to decide on anything relating to the 2016 polls, Marcos said.