"Malapit na (it is near). Give me time to convince my family. Inday (former Vice-Mayor Sara Duterte) may agree if she sees this (points to crowd)," said Duterte while supporters of the Run Duterte for President movement cheered him on to declare his intention to run for President.From Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, thousands of people will converge at Rizal Park today in another attempt to convince Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to run for president in the May 2016 elections.
Dubbed “People’s Declarationâ€, the rally will start with a caravan with up to 5,000 vehicles expected to join. The caravan will start at 1 p.m. From Matina Crossing Rotunda (old ABS CBN) going to Davao City Recreation Center (Almendras Gym), Boulevard, R.Castillo, Lanang then J.P. laurel, Quirino, Magallanes and Rizal Park.
“Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has not yet declared he is running for the 2016 Presidential elections so this time it will be a people’s declaration but we have invited the mayor to be here during the rally,†Duterte for President Movement Convenor Mar Masanguid told Mirror yesterday.
The caravan of vehicles estimated to reach 5,000 is expected to arrive in the afternoon today.
Masanguid said the caravan of supporters started few days ago in Metro Manila and traveled through the national highway in Luzon joining the caravan from Visayas then proceeded to Davao City.
“Daghangyudnisilangamga supporter ni Mayor moabotsa Davao City, gikannisanagkalainlainglugarsaPilipinasunyadirisa Davao magtapok, (These are big numbers of supporters of the Mayor coming from different areas to converge here†Masanguid said.
“Depending on the crowd that will gather at the Rizal Park for the rally, we may be able to convince the mayor to declare that he is running for president,†he said. However, he added, it will all depend on the mayor’s decision.
He said there will be a motorcade in the city at 1:00 pm followed by a big rally at 4p.m. at Rizal Park.
Davao City Police Office (DCPO) Spokesperson, MilgraceDriz, said about 300 police personnel will be deployed to ensure the security of people attending the event.
“We in the PNP are not allowed to participate in any political rally but since it involved security we will be there to ensure that it will be peaceful and they are secured,†Driz said.
City Traffic and Transport Management Office Chief, RhodelioPoliquit said he is maximizing 80 personnel to ensure that the Duterte for President Caravan would not hamper traffic in the city. The CTTMO has a total of 387 personnel but we will deploy 120 personnel per shift to manage the city’s traffic,†Poliquit said.
The Caravan was organized by the Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte-National Executive Coordinating Committee, the Duterte for President Movement and Federalism Movement.
Duterte topped the presidential electoral survey conducted by the University of Mindanao-Institute of Popular Opinion (UM-IPO) from July 11 to 18 this year with a rating of 80 percent compared to last year’s survey where he got a 65.8 percent rating which is higher by 14.2
