After vote-rich Cavite, Marcos’ senatorial ticket campaigns in Laguna

LAGUNA, Philippines – The Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas senatorial lineup of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. headed to Laguna on Saturday, March 22, for a second day of campaigning in vote-rich Calabarzon.

Marcos will headline the slate’s sortie at Nuvali mixed-use development in Santa Rosa City on Saturday afternoon.

The visit comes a day after the President, during the sortie in Trece Martires, Cavite, conspicuously made no mention of Senator Imee Marcos in his speech, even though his sister is, on paper, still part of the administration’s 12-person senatorial ticket.

Senator Imee previously turned down her inclusion in the slate, saying she would rather be an “independent candidate.” She had participated in some of Alyansa’s sorties though, until the Philippine government under his brother’s leadership executed the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against former president Rodrigo Duterte, Imee’s close ally.

Senator Marcos has since skipped the rallies in Leyte and Cavite.

House Deputy Speaker Camille Villar, another member of the Alyansa slate, was also absent from the past two Alyansa rallies. She was reportedly sick the first time she skipped a sortie, and then had to attend to an event organized by her mother, Senator Cynthia, on the day of the Cavite rally.

On Saturday morning, Villar was in Caloocan for a motorcade alongside the city’s 1st District Representative Oscar Malapitan.

Senator Panfilo Lacson has admitted that Duterte’s arrest — a sticky subject that polarizes Filipinos — has affected the campaign, although Alyansa campaign manager Toby Tiangco insists that the coalition remains intact.

Laguna delivered big-time for Marcos in 2022, with 58% of voters, amounting to nearly a million votes, casting their ballots for him. Robredo was a distant second with a 31% vote-share.

While his running mate Sara Duterte got more votes for vice president than Marcos for president nationally, Marcos performed slightly better than his once-ally in the province three years ago. Duterte received some 800,000 votes or 51% vote share in Laguna in 2022.

Laguna, home to 2.1 million voters, is also interestingly one of the provinces in the Philippines where the administration coalition, composed of four key parties, was unable to unite on a single candidate for the gubernatorial race.

Santa Rosa Representative Dan Fernandez, the co-chair of the House quad committee that has been on the forefront of the investigation into the controversies under the Duterte administration, is the candidate of the National Unity Party (NUP). Marcos’ Partido Federal is carrying Vice Governor Katherine Agapay, while Laguna 2nd District Representative Ruth Hernandez, the term-limited governor’s wife, has the backing of Speaker Martin Romualdez’s party Lakas-CMD.

Completing the four-way slugfest for capitol in Laguna is former congresswoman and broadcaster Sol Aragones, who is running under the banner of her newly registered party Akay. – Rappler.com