ANTIPOLO CITY – WITH the elections barely five weeks away, the UniTeam tandem of Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) vice presidential candidate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte and presidential bet former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. of Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) have agreed to split up in their sorties in order to cover more areas of the country.

Duterte explained this during an ambush interview Thursday afternoon after attending another jampacked rally organized here by Antipolo City Mayor Andrea “Andeng” Ynares and city mayoral candidate Jun Ynares.

“Maraming areas ang ‘di po kami magkasama [ni Bongbong] dahil iba-iba po iyung areas na kailangan naming tutukan,” Duterte said when asked why her presidential tandem was not with her during the rally.

While Marcos was not with her in Limay, Bataan and Antipolo City, the presidential candidate was in Mindanao, courting voters in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur and in Bukidnon.

On the other hand, Antipolo City was the Metro Manila stop for the day-long campaign of Duterte, which began in Limay, Bataan.

In both sorties, the Davao City mayor got the support and endorsement of local officials and voters.

While both are leading the presidential and vice presidential campaign with a big lead against their rivals, Marcos and Duterte are not taking chances and have adopted the strategy of splitting up in scheduled rallies in order to cover more voters.

The candidates wanted to cover more areas of the country as much as possible wherein both are also campaigning for each other.

“That is the agreement, to cover more areas. We need to split up and collaborate on certain areas,” Duterte said.

Last Monday, Marcos and Duterte attended together three huge rallies in North Cotabato, Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat, while on the following day, Marcos campaigned in Zamboanga City.

Last Wednesday, both were also present during the sorties in Davao del Norte, Davao de Oro and Davao del Sur.

Last Sunday, Marcos was in General Santos City and South Cotabato.

Duterte was represented by her brother, Davao City Vice Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte in Polomolok and Koronadal City in South Cotabato.