- Duterte spokesman says their camp is happy with One Cebu endorsement
- He says endorsement to go beyond Cebu, will reach Cebuano-speaking areas in Visayas and Mindanao
- He also says they are preparing for foes’ smear campaign against the endorsement
- One Cebu chief has promised Duterte at least one million votes
MANILA, Philippines – Expressing their happiness at One Cebu Party’s decision to back their candidate, the camp of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said they are nevertheless bracing themselves for any black propaganda campaign their foes may throw against the endorsement.
In a statement to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Duterte spokesman Peter Laviña said their camp— although elated with the mayor’s latest victory— are nevertheless preparing for any demolition job their ‘scared’ opponents may be hatching in light of this latest development.
“We expect more mudslinging as scared camps try to stop this bandwagon,” he said.
Laviña added the endorsement would not reverberate in Cebu alone but in other Cebuano-speaking locations in the Visayas and Mindanao.
“With One Cebu’s decision to back Duterte, we expect to win big not just in Cebu province but in Cebuano-speaking areas in Visayas and Northern Mindanao where Cebu’s influence extends as well,” he said.
One Cebu chose Duterte after cutting ties with United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) standard bearer Vice President Jejomar Binay after accusations the latter’s party disrespected and neglected their ties.
Winston Garcia, chief of One Cebu, promised Duterte at least one million votes with the endorsement.
“History will repeat itself,” he said. “We share the longing of the Bisaya population to finally have a Bisaya president after 60 years.”
Cebu, which boasts of at least 2.7 million voters, is regarded as a swing-vote province. In the 2004 presidential elections, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo garnered a million-vote margin in the province over her rival the late actor Fernando Poe Jr.
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