DAVAO CITY, Philippines – A crowd of thousands attended the "Grand Rally" at Freedom Park here on Wednesday, March 16, for Mindanao's presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte.
Duterte solidified support from Dabawenyos, 47% of whom said in the March 1-6 poll conducted by Pulse Asia for ABS-CBN that Duterte is their preferred candidate for president. Duterte ranked second in the same Pulse survey, obtaining a rating of 24%, two percentage points higher than his previous rating in the February poll.
During the rally, the presidential contender raised the hand of his running mate, Alan Peter Cayetano, urging the crowd to vote for him. "If you vote for me, I am asking you to vote for Alan. He is a decent man," Duterte declared.
Before supporters, Duterte reiterated he would appoint Cayetano as his foreign affairs secretary.
Cayetano has been lagging behind in recent surveys, but in the March 1-6 Pulse Asia poll, Cayetano registered a 1-percentage point rise in his rating, 14% from his previous 13%.
Rally organizers claimed the gathering of Duterte supporters is the "biggest political event in the history of the city", as Dabawenyos came out to join the rally to show support for Duterte’s candidacy. They want him to be Mindanao's first president.
Contingents from nearby towns also came, according to village chief Rocky Balili, a political leader and member of the "Run Rodrigo Duterte and Duterte Diehard Supporter (DDS)-Davao Region".
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