Thousands show up at Alayon, Bakud rallies

CEBU, Philippines — Thousands of Talisay City and First District residents showed up at the grand rally of Team Alayon of Talisay City Mayor Eduardo Gullas and First District Representative Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas head.

Reelectionist Senators Cynthia Villar and Sonny Angara as well as former Senator Pia Cayetano also graced the affair.

They are all endorsed by the Gullases.

Villar, in an interview, has thanked the Visayan voters especially the Cebuanos as she emerged as the number one senator in the Visayas, based on the surveys.

“Siguro nga nagugustuhan nga mga Cebuanos yung mga nagawa natin sa Senado, yung mga livelihood projects natin na binigay hindi lang sa Cebu pati na sa buong Pilipinas. Kung mahalal uli ako, marami pa tayong gustong tulungan lalo na sa sektor ng mga magsasaka. I will continue to push for legislation that will benefit the Filipinos especially the poor,” Villar said.

Villar added that during her stint as senator for six years, she has established more than a thousand farm schools that benefitted the small farmers.

Angara, speaking before the more than eight thousand individuals who attended the grand rally, narrated some of his bills that benefitted directly the residents of Talisay City.

Angara, who made it to the top 12 in the surveys, has admitted that he is not complacent and will continue to campaign in the last remaining days of the campaign period.

Reelectionist Senator Grace Poe, who attended the miting de avance of Bakud Party headed by Reelectionist Mayor Ramonito Durano III and congressional bet Red Durano, hailed President Rodrigo Duterte for signing into law the First-Time Jobseekers Act.

Poe, speaking before the thousands of crowd in Danao City, said that this will be a great help among the first time jobseekers in terms of expenses.

“Oo, ‘yung magandang balita, naipasa na, napirmahan na ng Presidente ang batas na isa ako sa nagsulat. Lahat ng naghahanap ng trabaho, ‘di ba may mga permits; ngayon, libre na ‘yung birth certificate, NBI clearance, police clearance, barangay clearance at medical clearance,” said Poe, one of the authors of the said law.

Angara, also one of the authors of the law, said that this measure that would exempt first-time jobseekers from paying fees on government-issued documents in connection with their job application.

“We express our sincerest gratitude to the President for signing into law this landmark legislation that would exempt an estimated 1.3 million first-time jobseekers annually from paying fees on government-issued documents that are inordinately expensive for people without regular job,” Angara added.

Cayetano, for her part, said that if she gets to be elected again as senator, she will continue to push for legislation that would benefit the women sector.

The Alayon grand rally was graced by gubernatorial candidate Gwen Garcia and vice gubernatorial candidate Marie Daphne Salimbangon.

The Bakud Party grand rally, on the other hand, had gubernatorial candidate Agnes Magpale and vice gubernatorial candidate Hilario “Junjun” Davide III joining the activity.

Popular actor Coco Martin and actress Yassi Pressman entertained the Danao City crowd by singing and dancing.  They also promoted the Probinsyano Partylist and Poe.

Poe, in a separate interview, said she wanted to push for a mass transport system as one way in addressing the traffic problem.

 “Gusto kong itulak na magkaroon ng LRT system dito kasi talagang makikita natin na sobrang progresibo ng Cebu. Ang dami nang tao, very successful ang mga businesses, kaya lang medyo masikip ang traffic.  Dapat maglagay talaga tayo ng LRT dito, isa ‘yun sa imumungkahi ko,” Poe further said.

Samsam Gullas, who is running for city mayor, said he will continue to exert efforts in the delivery of basic services that includes education, tourism, more infrastructure projects, among others. — GAN (FREEMAN)