Isko Moreno says his supporters are ‘organic’

Despite his competitors reporting massive turnouts at their grand rallies, presidential contender and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno stated on Sunday that he stays calm, underlining that his supporters are “organic.”

Moreno emphasized that the events he held in recent weeks drew “real supporters” since he believes the “silent minority” will ultimately be the game-changer in his presidential campaign.

The mayor highlighted that while the “retail” approach of campaigning at town halls and out-of-the-way locations is time-consuming, it develops intimacy and unity more than the massive, staged rallies that other candidates are holding.

“Kasi ayoko ng ‘motor-paid.’ Magastos ang ‘motor-paid. Di ba, I mean, bakit ko naman babaliwin ang sarili ko ng 40,000 na tao pero binayaran ko naman sila ng tig-lilimang daan just to rah-rah,” Mayor Isko said in previous interviews.

(Because I don’t like ‘motor-paid.’ ‘Motor-paid’ is expensive. Isn’t it, I mean, why would I drive myself crazy with 40,000 people, but I paid them P500 each just to rah-rah.)

Isko Moreno’s campaign manager, Lito Banayo, said the mayor’s reception on the ground is considerably different from what polls show and far different from what his opponents might infer with their “very large rallies.”

Isko Moreno says his supporters are ‘organic’

“I think many of you have covered our field sorties. And you’ve seen the warmth. These are organic. We do not bring people to our rallies. In fact, we do not have big rallies, for that matter because we don’t consider that to be cost-effective,” Banayo told reports in Angono, Rizal.

“I mean, it costs a lot of money but the correlation between voting and presence in campaign rallies where you have bigtime entertainers does not correlate on a one-on-one basis,” he added.