“Where Cavite goes, the country goes. So, it has to start here.”
This is a statement made by Gov. Jonvic Remulla during the grand rally of his presidential bet, survey frontrunner Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., in Cavite, confidently promising him a landslide victory in the country’s second most vote-rich province.
In 2016, Marcos Jr. received nearly 557,000 votes in Cavite in his bid for vice president, as did the incumbent and outgoing president, Rodrigo Duterte.
Although he got the most votes in the province, giving him at least an 11 percent over then-Liberal Party bet Leni Robredo, he failed to capture the vice presidential seat which Robredo currently holds.
For the upcoming May 9 elections, Marcos Jr. and Robredo will face off once again, but this time for presidency.
Marcos Jr. got the backing of several local officials in Cavite, including the Remullas, Revillas, and the Tolentinos, while Robredo has the official endorsement of the Barzaga couple of Dasmariñas.
(READ: ‘Cavite is pink’: 47,000 Robredo supporters jampack Gentri grand rally)
(READ: Marcos-Duterte tandem draws huge crowd in Gentri)
(READ: Remulla sayas Cavite a ‘Marcos country’)
Meanwhile, beside the Marcos-Robredo rematch, another presidential candidate, Sen. Ping Lacson, is hopeful that he would get the same support
from his bailiwick as he did when he first ran for president in 2004.
However, despite his homecourt advantage, Lacson was unable to win the top seat as he trailed behind Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Fernando Poe Jr. back then.
Needless to say, Caviteño votes helped some former executive leaders in their political journeys including those of former presidents Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, Joseph Estrada, Fidel Ramos, and former vice president Jejomar Binay.
As a result, other presidential aspirants such as Manny Pacquiao and Isko Moreno paid multiple visits to the province in order to garner votes from Caviteños.
(READ: Vote-rich Cavite sinuyo ni Isko)
(READ: Pacquiao courts vote-rich Cavite)
According to Comelec, Cavite has a total of 2,302,353 registered voters for 2022, but it is unclear how these figures will be disseminated this election, which even mammoth rallies and endorsements cannot tell.
