CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—About 300 retired and still active ranking officers in the government and multi-sector private professionals from “BBM National Leaders Alliance” who strongly supported the President in the 2022 election held a convention here on Saturday which coincides with the 37th year anniversary of the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution.
But, Atty. Thorrsson Keith, president of the group with more than 30,000 grass root members all over the country said the convention was held to once again display their support to the President’s call for unity in the country and has no any connection with the historical event.
Keith said the gathering which was held at Marriot Hotel in Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga on the day of the 37th anniversary of the Edsa People Power was unintentional. He said because of the lack of enough time for the preparations, the original February 11 schedule was moved to February 25. “There is no intention whatsoever. It is up for the people if their attention will be caught with this convention that coincides with the anniversary of the Edsa People Power,” he told reporters in an interview.
Primarily, he said, the gathering of all the different pro-Marcos alliances in different parts of the country in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao and even from abroad is to solidify their strength and to also recognize each of them for their efforts and hard works in the candidacy of the President.
At the same time, the alliance, Keith said which is quasi-political also recognizes members who want to help the President and may wish to join him in his administration.
“This is the first gathering for purpose of alliances. This is a quasi-political group which recognizes the leaders who want to help the present administration. We will help those who wanted to aspire to become leaders of our country who are patriotic”.
According to the group’s leader who is in private practice as a lawyer, all of them strongly believe in Marcos’s visions, capabilities and direction he is driving the country at for its present and future glory and that he need more patriotic leaders in his government.
For one, he said, if his fellow lawyer Atty. Larry Gadon, who lost as a senatorial candidate under the Unity Party of BBM and Vice President Sara Duterte during the 2022 election would intend to run again in 2025, they will all rally behind him and support his candidacy.
“His logic is not ordinary and we believe in him in what he can contribute to help our President in solving the problems in our country. But he is not saying that he will run again. We are convincing him to run but he has yet to answer. But if he does, we will throw our hats for him,’ Keith told NEWS CORE.
Gadon who spoke as the guest of honor and speaker said that Marcos won as the first majority elected president of the country with more than 50 percent votes or 31.63 million votes from the 65.75 million registered voters. His closest rival, former Vice President Leni Robredo got 14,822,051 votes.
Gadon calls on the alliance members to continue their vigorous support to the President because all of their roles are not only to help him win but for his administration to succeed. He said the success of the Marcos administration is the success of the Filipino people.
Today, Gadon said, the country is facing real very hard problem and that he needs the support of everyone.
“Our country is facing huge problems such as our nearly P14-Trillion worth of foreign debt, the current condition if the country with the highest power and electricity rate in Asia and the world and that we lack the needed infrastructures in the country for the water catchment system or dams, energy generation, etc.,” he said during his speech.
“Solving these may not even be done in 20 years. That’s why we have to plan today the solutions to all these problems just like what Marcos Sr. (late former President Marcos, the father of BBM), has done,” he added.
“We really have to help our President in the success of his administration, we have to believe in what he is doing”. “Nailuklok na natin siya bilang president, ang gagawin natin ngayon ay tulungan ang adminsitrasyon niya upang mapaglingkuran ang ating mga kababayang Pilipino,” (we already made him our leader and our role now is to help his administration so that it could serve our countrymen).
Gadon said he was amazed when former President Gloria Arroyo showed him that seven of the major train projects of the government were blueprints of the late former president.
Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) Partylist Rep. Marissa Del Mar also graced the event and thanked the President through the newly created Department of Migrant Workers which had been their partners in helping Filipino migrant workers who had faced abuses and other problems from their employers.