Campaign on to ensure 13.5 M votes for GMA

ANGELES CITY — Some 21 multisectoral groups gathered here yesterday to launch a campaign to ensure, within the next 45 days, at least 50 supporters for President Arroyo in each voting precinct to ensure at least 13.5 million votes for her in the May 10 elections.

The groups, organized under the umbrella of the so-called PRO-GLORIA coalition, said that in Luzon alone, enlisting 50 supporters in each of the 103,557 voting precincts would translate into 5,695,635 votes for Mrs. Arroyo.

Leaders of the groups, coming from as far as Batanes in the north and Masbate in the south, met here to formally link up with the PRO-GLORIA movement which its secretary-general Alex Cauguiran described as a "campaign machinery parallel to the K-4 coalition."

During the meeting, their leaders took turns in citing their reasons for throwing their support behind Mrs. Arroyo.

"PRO-GLORIA is a newly formed coalition of non-government organizations, private sector groups and individuals covering initially all the 38 provinces of Luzon," Cauguiran said.

OFW Campaign

Noel Josue, who represented a group of overseas Filipino workers, said similar campaigns are ongoing among Filipino workers in the Middle East and Hong Kong.

His group, he said, is set to campaign for Mrs. Arroyo among Filipino voters in Hong Kong this coming weekend.

Posters, calendars and other materials endorsing Mrs. Arroyo’s bid were distributed to the groups after the luncheon assembly at the five-star Gloria Maris restaurant in the Balibago business district here.

Cauguiran said the groups, which represent the urban poor, tricycle drivers, farmers, the women’s sector, overseas workers, the youth and senior citizens, were also given cassettes and even comics that they could readily reproduce at their expense.

Cauguiran, however, insisted that no government funds are being used for the PRO-GLORIA movement, saying that various business and other groups which have either joined or are supportive of PRO-GLORIA have given donations.

Cebu, Davao Launches

He said the PRO-GLORIA movement was similarly launched in the cities of Cebu and Davao yesterday.

"Our efforts are independent of the political machinery of the President," he said.

He said five coordinators will be recruited in each of the 103,557 voting precincts in Luzon who, in turn, will each seek 10 supporters.

A similar strategy, he said, will also be employed in the Visayas and Mindanao.

"We are committed to secure a total of 13.5 million votes for President Arroyo nationwide, Cauguiran said.

The figure, he said, "is the minimum number of votes needed to clinch the presidential race given a field of five serious candidates."

"If there are 40 million registered voters in May and given an 80 percent voters’ turnout for the presidential race, we can say that 13.5 million votes are definitely a winning number in a tight contest," he added.

The groups which attended yesterday’s gathering here included Lakas Pinoy, Bigkis Pinoy, Kaibigan ni GMA, Kaisambayan, United Filipino Seafarers, Kaibigan ng OCWs, National Confederation of Tricycle Drivers and Operators Association of the Philippines, Muslim Peace and Order Council, Team Gloria and Kagabay ni Gloria.