‘Green campaign’ gives go signal for Lakas-Kampi’s local machinery

It’s now all systems go for the administration party’s local campaigns. The ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD coalition on Friday kicked off the local campaign season through the "green campaign" — a bid to boost the candidacy of its standard-bearer Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and its more than 12,000 local candidates. The campaign was launched early in the morning at the party’s headquarters in Mandaluyong City, with Teodoro and other members of the Lakas-Kampi’s national slate signing a "green covenant" that states the party’s general platforms. Present during the signing were administration party senatorial candidates Rey Langit and Silvestre Bello III, as well as party stalwart Prospero Pichay. Lakas-Kampi assistant secretary-general Raffy Benaldo said the "green campaign" was launched to show a "unified effort" among local officials to rally behind Teodoro. "There are other initiatives across the country from administration candidates who have been advised that we are launching the green campaign today," Benaldo said in a speech during the campaign launch. Benaldo said that aside from activities in Metro Manila, administration party supporters from all over the country have been instructed to tie green ribbons to support the campaign. Defections, alliance The launch of the campaign coincided with the start of the campaign for those seeking local posts in the May polls. It also came days after administration allies from two provinces announced support for Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Manuel Villar Jr. instead of Teodoro. Bukidnon Governor Jose Maria Zubiri Jr. on Wednesday left Lakas-Kampi-CMD after he openly announced support for Villar along with 22 mayors from the province. [See: Lakas eyes sanction vs Zubiri for supporting Villar] In Cebu City, mayoralty candidate Alvin Garcia, cousin of known administration ally Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, also forged an alliance with Villar along with members of the local opposition party Kusug. Cebu Gov. Garcia, however, said on Thursday that she and her party, One Cebu, remains "firm" in their "commitment" to Teodoro, despite her cousin's shift in political allegiance. Focus on winning Teodoro, however, said the party is not affected by these defections, since such withdrawals of support were already "expected." "Mangyayari at mangyayari ‘yan. May dadagdag, at may maaalis (These are all expected to happen. Some will join. Some will leave)," he said at a press briefing after the signing of the covenant. Teodoro added that he and his local machinery are focused not on defections, but on how they can win their respective races. "We expect our local candidates to win, just as we expect to win," he said. Data obtained by GMANews.TV showed that Lakas-Kampi-CMD has a total of 12,891 local candidates nationwide. The party accounts for 72 percent of candidates vying for local posts. Painting Metro Manila green After the campaign's launch, Teodoro, together with his running mate Edu Manzano and some of their senatorial bets, went around Metro Manila in a motorcade. Lakas-Kampi has five of the 16 city mayors from Metro Manila as its members. Metro Manila has over 5 million voters but traditionally, the region goes for opposition candidates. The motorcade, complete with green dragon dancers and ati-atihan drummers, cruised through the stretch of Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) and was met by supporters carrying green flags and tarpaulins expressing support for Teodoro. Housewife Camille Zamora, 46, traveled from Fairview, Quezon City, to the Lakas-Kampi headquarters in Mandaluyong just to see the administration party standard-bearer in person. "Sobrang saya ko na nakita ko na si Gibo. Pumunta ako rito para suportahan s’ya dahil maganda ang kanyang plataporma (I am very happy to have seen Gibo. I went here to support him because his platform is good)," Zamora said while waving a green flag to show support to Teodoro. Youth volunteer Aaron de Leon, meanwhile, said he supports Teodoro because of the former's "competence." "Talagang organized ang kanyang plataporma, (He has a really organized platform) which is institutional and structural reform," he said. Teodoro is expected to visit his home province Tarlac on Friday afternoon, and is scheduled to participate in a proclamation rally in Cebu at 9 p.m. Friday. — RSJ/LBG, GMANews.TV