Just days after he filed his certificate of candidacy to run for Vice President in the 2016 polls Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. today got a taste of the support from the vaunted Solid North, particularly in his home province of Ilocos Norte.
Marcos was in Laoag City today to accompany his mother, former First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos, and show his support for her as she filed her certificate of candidacy at the Commission on Elections office in the city for her third term as representative of the second district of Ilocos Norte.
But before this the senator was joined for lunch at the Malacañang of the North in Paoay town by an estimated 300 local officials, political leaders, representatives from non-government organizations as well as business groups from the province who expressed support for his vice presidential bid.
“I am very thankful for this expression of support. This is very encouraging to me because if you cannot muster support from home how else can you expect to get the support of the entire country?” Marcos said.
Marcos, who has vowed to run on a platform of unity for all Filipinos, said the best way the people of Ilocos Norte can show support for his vision for a better Philippines is to prove the entire province is united behind him.
“The only way that I can ask the rest of the country’s support, for the rest of the country’s understanding, is only if I can say we have done it in Ilocos Norte: we are united, we are together, we are strong. That is what we need to do,” said Marcos.
The tendency of Ilocanos to vote as a bloc in support of a fellow Ilocano candidate has given rise to the term “Solid North”. Current estimates place the total of Ilocano voters to be around 6 million.
Meanwhile, Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos also urged the leaders of the province to unite behind her brother as she thanked them for setting aside recriminations and sacrificing their personal agenda for the sake of unity of the province. ###
