Bataan execs support Gibo

from People's Journal
http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php?issue=2010-01-06&sec=17&aid=111090

Bataan execs support Gibo BATAAN is an industrial powerhouse waiting to be tapped, Lakas-Kampi-CMD presidential candidate Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. Tuesday said, vowing more developmental infrastructure for the area to develop it into a lynchpin of Central Luzon’s economy.

Some 6,000 students chanting “Dapat Gibo” warmly welcomed Teodoro during a campus tour at the Bataan Peninsula State University, where he outlined an economic blueprint for Bataan, site of a major freeport and shipyard and a teeming commercial hub at the former U.S. Naval Base at Subic.

Bataan has more than sufficient skilled labor, enlightened local leadership and an educated youth sector that Teodoro said comprised the “elements of a modern industry” to make it the most progressive province in Central Luzon.

“More modern roads, bridges and commmunication networks will make this a reality,” Teodoro said.


The province, he said, has a “ship-building, armament manufacturing and electronic industry that can be further developed through modern infrastructure.”

Provincial leaders of Lakas-Kampi-CMD, led by Bataan Gov. Enrique “Tet” Garcia, vowed to give Teodoro all the electoral support the province can muster.

Garcia predicted a decisive win by Teodoro in Bataan as 70 percent of all their local officials are running under the Lakas-Kampi-CMD banner. Earlier, waving crowds lined the highway from Dinalupihan town to Balanga City, some holding “Dapat Gibo” placards and weaving green banners as Bataan gave a rousing welcome on a scale seldom seen in this province to the ruling party’s presidential tandem of Teodoro and Edu Manzano.

The Gibo-Edu tandem arrived at the city plaza at 12 noon at the head of the motorcade, and a crowd of 5,000 welcomers undeterred by a punishing sun erupted in cheers and chants of “Gibo-Edu!” and “Dapat Gibo!”

The ruling party’s motorcade took off from Dinalupihan shortly after 8 in the morning and was mobbed at key stops along the way through the towns of Hermosa, Samal, Orani and Abucay.

“This is as fantastic a welcome as Bataan and its people can give Gibo and Edu,” said Garcia. “No proof can say it better, that Gibo and Edu have captivated our people from all walks of life.”

Along the way of the motorcade, the crowd was so thick that Teodoro and Manzano -- with their good looks -- had to get off and literally inch their way through welcomers seeking to touch them or shake their hands.

Balanga City Mayor Joet Garcia welcomed Teodoro’s entourage amid a cheering crowd of 5,000 waving green banners and placards proclaiming “Dapat Gibo,” a reference to their choice of Teodoro for president in the May elections.

Teodoro and Manzano later showed up at the Bataan People’s Center packed with students and members of NGOs. Teodoro said Bataan “will be first priority” in a Lakas-Kampi administration.

He noted the province’s history, following the fall of Bataan in World War II, as the take-off point of the Death March that had sent thousands of Filipino and American soldiers to their deaths on their way to Capas under Japanese Imperial forces.

The ruling party has kept a well-oiled organization in the province led by Gov. Garcia and his organization in every town known as “Kabalikat.” That organization shows the depth of the party’s organization in a province that has the fifth largest number of voters in vote-rich Central Luzon, said the ruling party’s local officials.

After a visit to the city hall, Teodoro and Manzano met with provincial, city and municipal candidates at the Bataan People’s Center.