Marcos touts unity of ‘Solid North’ bloc over the decades
PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Tuesday called on lawmakers from northern Philippines, his bailiwick, to strengthen their bloc.
He made the call during the oath-taking ceremony for the newly elected officials of the Northern Luzon Alliance (NLA) at the presidential palace.
“Those times that we went through that (political irrelevance), the Ilocano bloc remained solid. And the result is that we are now here celebrating the taking the oath of new officers of the Northern Alliance here in the Palace,” Mr. Marcos said in a speech, based on a press from the Presidential Communications Office.
“And that has kept us afloat through all the lean years… And as I said, now the solidarity and the strength of the Ilocano bloc has remained and it has served us well,” he added.
The NLA is a group of congressmen mostly belonging to the tobacco-producing provinces. Presidential son and Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Alexander Marcos III serves as its honorary chairman.
The alliances’ officers include Ilocos Norte Rep. Angelo Marcos Barba, president; Mountain Province Rep. Maximo Y. Dalog Jr., executive vice president; Pangasinan Rep. Arthur F. Celeste, vice president for Region 1; Isabela Rep. Antonio T. Albano, vice president for Region 2; Kalinga Rep. Allen Jesse C. Mangaoang, vice president.
Other officials include ABONO Party List Rep. Robert Raymund M. Estrella, La Union Rep. Franciso Paolo P. Ortega V, Ilocos Sur Rep. Kristine Singson-Meehan, and Isabela Rep. Joseph S. Tan.
The President claimed that even after his father, the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, was ousted in February 1986, the alliance maintained its unity.
“So let us take that as our lesson that really what has kept us going, what has kept us strong, and what has kept us relevant in national politics.”
The so-called Solid North is composed of the four provinces in Ilocos Region (Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Pangasinan, and La Union) and the five provinces in Cagayan Valley (Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, and Quirino).
Mr. Marcos, 65, won in eight out of those nine provinces, with only Batanes giving his closest rival, former Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” G. Robredo, a lead. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
