CEBU, Philippines – The island of Olango in the province of Cebu was buzzing with excitement on Friday, March 4.
It's narrow streets were lined with yellow banners bearing the name one of their guests of honor that day, Liberal Party standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II.
The buzz of choppers were more than enough to send the crowd – that swelled well into the thousands – crazy. It would be the first time for residents to see a presidential candidate visit the island, a 20-minute motorized boat ride away from mainland Lapu-Lapu in Mactan Island.
“Olango island and the entire Cebu is yellow,” Roxas, in blue jeans and his usual yellow campaign shirt, announced to the crowd.
“Diretso (Straight),” the crowd would chant back, echoing the tagline of the local coalition here.
According to the Roxas campaign team, there are around 19,000 voters in the Olango group of islands. The Lapu-Lapu mayor and most of the city’s barangay (village) chairman are allied with the ruling party.
If Roxas seemed at ease during his two-day blitz around different Cebuano towns, it’s probably because the vote-rich province is his bailiwick. Back in 2010, Roxas walloped his closest vice presidential rival Jejomar Binay in the province. He got over 1 million votes; Binay got less than half – 400,000.
But Cebu wasn’t enough to win the vice presidency. Roxas eventually lost to Binay by a narrow margin.
From Thursday to Friday, Roxas and his running mate, Camarines Sur Representative Leni Robredo, made the rounds in the province, visiting local factories, women’s shelters, and barnstorming in 5 towns and cities.
Roxas is the first to say he isn’t letting his guard down in the vote-rich province. (READ: Can Mar Roxas win Cebu anew?)
“Hindi naman tama na magkumpiyansa tayo, pero nananalig ako, nagtitiwala ako na ang ating mga kababayan dito, alam nila, alam nila ‘yung pagkakaiba ng mga kandidato. Alam nila, gusto nila dito, malinis, tapat, hindi magnanakaw na pamumuno. So nananalig ako, nagtitiwala ako sa ating mga kababayan dito,” he would tell reporters in a chance interview on Thursday.
(It’s not right to be overly confident. But I believe, I trust, that our countrymen here know the difference between candidates. They know that what they want here is a leadership that’s clean, honest, and won’t steal from them. So I believe and I trust our fellow Filipinos here.)
– Rappler.com