By VIOLETA M. GLORIA
Mindanews
ILIGAN CITY.—Local Liberal Party candidates led by reelectionist congressman Vicente Belmonte of the lone district of Iligan and mayor Lawrence Cruz paraded Saturday afternoon with supporters from hinterland and coastal communities to ‘show force.’
They assembled from four centerpoints of the city and converged along Quezon avenue near Saint Michael church.
Characterizing itself as a political extravaganza, their miting de avance featured local band, singers, dancers and cheerers’ who yelled and chanted after each candidate spoke.
Equipped with a multi-media system, three LCD projectors were used to magnify the candidates’ faces for the crowd who were either squatting beside or along the road.
Supporters were given t-shirts, caps, paper fan, and wrists bands. Food was also distributed those who were around at 7 p.m.
The noise reached inside Saint Michael Cathedral where Monsignor Jemar Vera Cruz, nuns and some parishoners were reciting the holy rosary for “a peaceful, credible exercise of democratic rights on the election day.”
Meanwhile in a quiet community of barangay San Miguel, supporters of Partido ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) led by congressional aspirant Joe Pantoja and former mayor Franklin Quijano, gathered in a gymnasium where candidates took turns sharing their agenda.
Their miting de avance also featured some entertainment numbers, although their venue was far from the city center and could only gather nearby residents.
The Nacionalista Party’s local candidates led by mayoral candidate Alipio Badelles had their miting de avance May 7 near the city postal’s office.
Badelles and his team introduced alternatives to the city’s development plans, which they said they would implement if elected.