DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 09 May) — President Rodrigo Duterte was a no-show at the Hugpong ng Pagbabago’s (HNP) grand here on Thursday.
Presidential daughter and HNP chair Mayor Sara Duterte announced that the President could not make it to the Senatorial Campaign Caravan but was watching the event via live stream.
She gave no reason for the President’s absence but said her father wanted to thank his supporters, hoping they would give similar support to the senatorial candidates of the HNP during the election on Monday.
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte thanks her party’s supporters for attending the Hugpong ng Pagbabago’s Campaign Caravan for Senators along San Pedro Street in Davao City on Thursday night, 9 May 2019. The mayor announced her father was not attending the rally but gave no reason why. MindaNews photo by MANMAN DEJETO
Sara was joined by former President and now House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her two siblings, resigned vice mayor Paolo and Sebastian Duterte. Sara is seeking reelection, Paolo is running as representative of Davao City’s first district while Sebastian is running for vice mayor.
“Naghangyo sya sa inyohang suporta sa mga senators nga naa dinhi karon nga nag ingon nga mosuporta pud sa iyang administrasyon sa iyang proyeto, sa iyahang programa og sa tanan niyang inisyatibo atong suportahan (He is asking to give your support to the senatorial candidates here who also vowed to support his administration in its projects, programs, and initiatives),” she said.
All 13 HNP senatorial candidates were present during the rally: re-electionist senators Sonny Angara, JV Ejercito, Cynthia Villar, and former Senate President Koko Pimentel; comebacking senators Jinggoy Estrada, Pia Cayetano, and Bong Revilla; and former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chair Francis Tolentino, former Philippine National Police chief Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, incumbent Ilocos Norte governor Imee Marcos, Maguindanao’s 2nd District Representative Zajid “Dong” Mangudadatu, Jiggy Manicad, and former Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go.
The Hugpong ng Pagbabago senatorial slate – 13 for 12 seats — together with Mayor Sara Duterte and siblings Paolo and Sebastia, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and some local politicians at the HNP’s miting de avance in Davao City on 9 May 2019. MIndaNews photo by MANMAN DEJETO
The caravan was also graced by Davao Occidental governor Claude Bautista, Davao del Norte governor Anthony del Rosario, and Compostela Valley governor Tyrone Uy, who are also founders of the HNP, Marinduque Representative Lord Allan Velasco, and Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, candidate for Leyte’s First District Representative. (Antonio L. Colina IV/ MindaNews).
