Alyansa closes campaign with Marcos pitch, INC boost ahead of polls

Senatoriables under the administration slate Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas will end their campaign in Mandaluyong City late Friday, two days before the mid-term elections, following a gruelling 90-day campaign with 16 major rallies nationwide.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is expected to attend the “grand” miting de avance, which will take place along Nueve de Febrero, to make his final pitch to the voting public to vote straight for his 11 senatorial bets.

The Alyansa ticket is composed of former Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos, Makati City Mayor Abby Binay, re-electionists Senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Pia Cayetano, Lito Lapid, Francis Tolentino, former senators Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, Manny Pacquiao, Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, ACT-CIS Rep. Erwin Tulfo, and Las Piñas City Rep. Camille Villar.

The Marcos-led coalition is an alliance of five dominant political blocs — Lakas-CMD, Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, National People’s Coalition, National Unity Party, and Nacionalista Party — reportedly sharing the same objectives of the administration and supporting its socio-economic roadmap.

Most of the contenders under the admin slate continue to dominate last-minute surveys, the most recent of which: the Social Weather Survey (SWS), conducted from 2-6 May. The survey showed that eight of 11 Marcos’ bets landed on the so-called Magic 12.

Three of them — Cayetano, Revilla, and Villar — have already been pledged by the influential Iglesia Ni Cristo to back their senatorial race despite sharing divergent views with the administration, particularly the move to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte.

The religious sect, numbering millions of Filipinos who vote as a bloc, has been known for its significant political influence in the Philippines.

Campaign manager Toby Tiangco claimed that aside from supporting the President’s legislative agenda “will stay focused on national interest, over and above anything else.”

Lacson, Tulfo, and Sotto expressed confidence that Marcos’ unwavering support will translate into votes on Monday. They credit Marcos as a driving force behind their strong showing in pre-election surveys, where most of them are projected to secure Senate seats.

The 11-member Alyansa will vie for 12 Senate seats in the 12 May polls against 55 other senatorial hopefuls. Those who will be proclaimed winners will complete the 24-member Senate and will sit as senator-judges in the upcoming impeachment trial of Vice President Duterte.

Alyansa’s closest rival, the PDP-Laban, chaired by former president Rodrigo Duterte, had already concluded its miting de avance on Thursday, with Vice President Duterte ending it with a bang, hitting the candidates of the administration and its chief campaigner, Marcos, whom she called "incompetent."