“If you look at me as your leader, then support the candidates of President Arroyo. I'm asking you this time, one time lang,“ Duterte told the crowd in Agdao.
“You vote for the candidates of President Arroyo so that there is no more chaos in the country and we can ask for more help,” Duterte said, adding Ms Arroyo “gave us a beautiful airport (Davao City International Airport) and a kidney center there in Bajada. You don't need to go to Manila or else if you have problems with your kidney,” he said.
But a 73 years-old grandmother who was present at the rally, said she will not vote straight for TU.
“I will not vote straight for TU. I will just choose 3 or 4, “ said Paulina Natad who stayed on until the rally ended, despite the heavy rains that sent her neighbors scampering for home.
“For us, there is no problem with Mayor Duterte and his local candidates but we will not vote the entire slate of candidates of President Arroyo, “ said a 41 year-old male vendor.
But his 70-year old father who joined him in the rally said, he was voting “11-1 in favor of GO (Genuine Opposition).
An estimated 3,000 people trooped to the rally, according to PO1 Leo Labanon, one of the 50 police officers of the Sta. Ana Police Precinct deployed to the area.
Only three of the Team Unity bets were not around – senators Joker Arroyo and Edgardo Angara and Governor Luis “Chavit” Singson.
The three Mindanawon senatorial bets vowed, if elected, to provide assistance to the city’s infrastructure projects, including the reconstruction of the Governor Generoso Bridge I which was recently destroyed.
Bukidnon Rep. Miguel Zubiri, the only Mindanawon who made it to the Senate 12 according to the latest SWS survey (he landed second in Mindanao and ninth-to-tenth nationwide), said he and fellow Mindanawons Rep. Prospero Pichay of Surigao del Sur and Sultan Jamalul Kiram of Sulu will allocate funds for the infrastructure projects of Duterte.
“We will give assistance from our funds to help Mayor Duterte with his infrastructure projects, especially the bridge,“ he said.