FOUR major political parties have merged to support presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and his running mate, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
The BBM-SARA UniTeam led the signing of the memorandum of agreement (MoA) between the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD), Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) and Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila in Pasay City on Thursday.
In his speech, Marcos said the merging of the four parties signifies unity that would heal and bring peace to a country that dirty politics has long polarized.
“We have come together on the basis of unity. And it is these unifying forces that I believe will bring the stability back first to the political arena, and secondly, to the country,” he said.
Duterte-Carpio thanked the parties for coming together to support the UniTeam and asked them to “invite more parties to join the alliance.”
“This alliance does not only show our firm aspirations for our country. It also echoes loudly of our triumph to peacefully unite and stand side by side in the pursuit of continued development and positive change for our fellow Filipinos and the Philippines,” Duterte-Carpio, chairman of Lakas-CMD and HNP, said.
“As your vice presidential candidate, I am proud of this agreement that powerfully illustrates leadership transcending throughout political colors,” she said.
Signing the agreement were Davao Occidental Gov. Claude Bautista, HNP president; South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr., PFP president; House Majority Leader and Leyte First District Rep. Martin Romualdez, Lakas-CMD president; and former senator Jinggoy Estrada, PMP president.
Lakas-CMD, which passed a resolution adopting Marcos as its presidential candidate, expressed confidence that the alliance would entice other parties to also support the UniTeam.
Under the agreement, each party can field one candidate in the coalition’s senatorial ticket.
The full lineup will be announced on or before December 1.
The coalition vowed to pursue good governance, economic reforms, a sustained campaign to defeat the pandemic, and national unification and healing.
Marcos described the alignment of the four parties as “a very important step” and “the beginning of our consolidating of the political forces at least on this side of the political aisle.”
A former senator who ran for vice president in 2016, Marcos filed his certificate of candidacy (CoC) under the PFP in October.
Duterte-Carpio filed her CoC to run for reelection as mayor. She withdrew it on November 9 and filed one for the vice presidency under Lakas-CMD four days later.
On Wednesday, Lakas-CMD adopted a resolution confirming Duterte-Carpio as its vice presidential bet and another one officially adopting Marcos as its presidential candidate.
The party also adopted a resolution authorizing Romualdez to enter into alliances with other parties.
“The UniTeam Alliance, we pray, is just the beginning. We dream of a grand coalition of national and regional parties with local alliances that share our vision of a better future for this generation and the next,” Romualdez said on Thursday.
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