Jamora, urban poor reaffirm covenant
Leading candidate for city mayor and the urban poor reaffirmed their commitment to each other in a grand Labor Day rally at Sooc, Arevalo last Saturday.
Various delegations representing the humongous urban poor associations from all over the city trooped to the Sooc relocation site to air their grievances – no water, no electricity, no health services, no lights, in the relocations sites — before Percy Chavez, chairman of the Philippine Commission on Urban Poor. Later, the urban poor marched in a nearly kilometer long torch parade from the Sooc Gamay gym to Sooc Daku where Jamora and his fellow candidates were poised to hold a rally. Along the way, the torch-carrying horde of over 2,000 people spiced their march with chants of “Pagbag-o! Pagbag-o! Pagbag-o!” and “Larry! Larry! Larry!” “Pagbag-o” (change) is Jamora’s campaign battlecry.
The marchers met Jamora at the rally site with warm hugs and cheers while continuing their chants with renewed fervor. During the rally, Jamora reaffirmed his commitment to prioritize the needs of the urban poor as embodied in a covenant he signed together with the leaders and members of the city’s various urban poor associations at the launching of his campaign. Calling attention to themselves were several urban poor associations that Jamora’s opponents earlier claimed as his own supporters.
Swelling the ranks at the rally were officers and members of the United Trisikad Association with over 5,000 members from all over the city. These trisikad drivers, along with members of the Metro Iloilo Tricycle Operators and Drivers Associations form the core of thousands in the transport sector who are supporting Jamora.
Asked about their presence at the parade and rally, a Sooc resident summed it best when he said: “We are here to expose the big lie of Vice Mayor Jed Mabilog that we have already shifted our support from Toto Larry to him. We are also here to reassure Toto Larry that we will all vote for him this coming May 10 elections. He is the only candidate for mayor we can trust in helping us out of our sad fate which Vice Mayor Mabilog and his allies have made us suffer for many years now,” he said.
In his speech, however, Jamora said the call for change is not only for change in leadership at the city government but also a change in attitude among the people, particularly in the manner of voting for people who could give them bigger sums.
Meanwhile, Jamora’s youth volunteers are delivering pleasant surprises to mallers, pedestrians as they performed street-dance campaigns for Jamora and Team Pagbag-o in the city malls and various public places. These youth volunteers, consisting mostly of college students, have elevated the campaign towards a unique and more positive direction sending a message of hope and change for the betterment of Iloilo City.
