Party (NP) presidential aspirant Sen. Manuel Villar in a videotaped message shown at a concert rally here that capped the party’s two-day barnstorming of vote-rich Cebu province.
“Let us support our president… Manny Villar…who is the answer to our problems because he was also poor before,” Pacquiao said in the footage shown to what the Villar team claimed to be some 80,000 people in this city’s reclamation area.
Judging from the long-winded message, the Villar team apparently thought of thoroughly milking the pugilist’s huge popularity. Pacquiao said that Villar, who came from humble beginnings like himself, knew best what the masses’ problems were and how to address them.
The world’s reigning pound-for-pound king in the ring said he could feel the sincerity of Villar and his slate as they pledged to lead the country and give Filipinos a better life. “We need change for our country,” Pacquiao said.
It was the first time the video was shown at an NP rally.
Pacquiao apologized for not being able to join Villar at the rally because he was preparing for a fight that was also for the country.
Pacquiao is in the United States training for a welterweight fight against Joshua Clottey at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium on March 13.
Pacquiao was a staunch supporter of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo until he joined the NP in December last year. He is the NP’s candidate for Congress in Saranggani province’s lone district.
Pacquiao ended his message with a pledge to join his “beloved President Manny Villar” on the campaign trail as soon as he returned home.
Reacting to comments that it looked like the NP had pulled out all the stops for Sunday’s event, Villar told reporters that the rally only appeared to be an expensive production. It was merely the product of a concerted effort of supporters such as popular TV host Willie Revillame, he said.
Still, the turnout was much lower than what the NP expected. Gilbert Remulla, NP spokesperson and senatorial candidate, said at an earlier press conference that the party hoped that a mammoth crowd of 200,000 to 250,000 people would turn up for the rally. Villar for his part was elated. He said his team received a warm welcome in all the places that they went to in the province.
Cebu City and Cebu province, which combined have more than two million voters, is a known administration bailiwick. In 2004, Cebu gave Ms Arroyo a million votes more than her closest rival, the late Fernando Poe Jr.
Villar, his running mate Sen. Loren Legarda and the senatorial candidates over the weekend went around the public markets, a slum area and an island resort in northern Cebu, pressing the flesh with voters.
Villar said the thick crowds that welcomed them wherever they went showed that the NP candidates continued to gain strength.
On Saturday, Villar and the senatorial candidates visited Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal and asked for his blessing.
Villar also made a quick stop in Davao City to attend a gathering of the United Pentecostal Church on Sunday. He said the pastors blessed him.
