The majority of Negros Occidental’s mayors and congressmen reiterated their commitment to support presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in a meeting with his campaign manager in Bacolod City Sunday, former Murcia Mayor Esteban “Sonny” Coscolluela, said Monday, March 28.
Twenty-eight mayors and four congressmen were present at the meeting with Marcos’ campaign manager Benhur Abalos and Mayor Chavit Singson at Stonehill Suites, he said.
Coscolluela, who is the Marcos spokesperson in Negros, did not name the mayors present but said representatives Gerardo Valmayor – 1st District, Francisco Benitez – 3rd District, Juliet Marie Ferrer – 4th District, and Ma. Lourdes Arroyo – 5th District were at the meeting.
Former Rep. Mercedes Alvarez of the 6th District could not attend but said they had her support, Coscolluela added.
None of the Negros officials supporting Marcos have backed out, he said.
“They signed their names, they were all there yesterday (March 27). They reiterated and pledged again that they will do their best,” Coscolluela said.
The message of Abalos and Singson was “hold on, deliver the votes, convert them. You cannot just sit back and say look we are leading, you have to deliver the votes,” Coscolluela added.
Asked if he sees a landslide win for Marcos in Negros Occidental, Coscolluela said a “landslide is too much to ask” but the fight will be heated and he will win in the province and Region 6.
There are 23 mayors in Iloilo and 18 mayors in Negros Oriental supporting Marcos, “the bandwagon is on, everybody would like to hitch their fortunes…if you are a public official you would go with the winner,” he said.
Abalos and Singson said opponents of Marcos have resorted “to optics and exaggerated news,” Coscolluela added.
Coscolluela denied claims that the campaign of Marcos is slowing down in the provinces.
In fact last week was very good for the Marcos group, he said.
Marcos’ performance during “The Deep Probe: The SMNI Presidential Interviews” on Saturday showed that he is “head and shoulders above all the other candidates as far as preparedness for the office of the president,” Coscolluela said.
Marcos aversion to the regular debates is understandable because he wants to keep his campaign on a high level, because the previous debates were opportunities to bash him, Coscolluela said.
The endorsement of the PDP Laban and the National Unity Party, although there were a few holdouts, also strengthened Marcos candidacy, he added.
Coscolluela said he expects Marcos’s numbers to go higher in the next survey, and “by June 30 we will be inaugurating him as the next president”.
“The strategy to avoid hate politics and negative campaigning has worked for us,” he added.*