Tens of thousands of Marikenyos on Saturday vowed to protect the votes which will be cast for presidential frontrunner Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. come May 9elections.

“Hindi kami papayag na dayain ka!” the crowd shouted in unison, interrupting the speech of presidential frontrunner during a grand rally held at the Marikina City Amphitheater on Saturday evening.

The audience were alluding to the massive cheating incident in 2016 when Marcos who was then running for vice president eventually lost despite leading by huge margins against his rival Leni Robredo through apparent computer manipulations and machinations.

The vow “Hindi kami papayag na dayain ka!” roared repeatedly like a mantra in the more than 20-hectare Riverbanks Center, Marikina City, as BBM-Sara UniTeam supporters shouted in chorus.

The BBM-Sara UniTeam held a large-scale rally on Saturday with supporters excitedly awaiting for them as early 5 a.m. bringing with them their posters and tarpaulins.

“Maaga palang nandito na kami, siguro mga 5 a.m. saktong dumating kami dito, ganon nalang ‘yung pagmamahal namin kay BBM at Sara, buo ang suporta namin sa kanila, lahat kami sa pamilya solid BBM-Sara,” according to a group of supporters.

“Sa sobrang excited ko na mabalitaan na darating si Marcos tsaka si Sara, hindi ako nakatulog ng maayos, ‘yung red na damit ko hinanap ko, hinanda ko, bumili ako ng cartolina, nagsulat ako kasi gusto ko mabasa nila ito para mapatunayan na kaisa nila ako,” one supporter said.

The heavy rain failed to dampen the enthusiasm of UniTeam supporters as they opted to stay and patiently waited for the arrival of Marcos, his running-mate Inday Sara Duterte and their senatorial slate.

Marcos did not disappoint them, and the cheering crowd cheered at him like he was a rock star and listened intently to every word that he said especially on his message about unity and his promise of healing leadership.

Shouts of “BBM!, may nanalo na!, Marcos pa rin!, panalo ka na!” reverberated as they all vowed to protect him from being cheated again.

“Maraming salamat, talaga naman ang gulat ng UniTeam, napakainit ng inyong pagtanggap sa ‘min dito sa Marikina, umulan na, pero mainit pa rin ang inyong pagtanggap, pagpasok ko kanina grabe ang daming tao,” Marcos said.

He went on to say that Marikina has clearly embraced the BBM-Sara UniTeam’s desire for unity, as seen by the ecstatic cheers of the crowd.

“Isigaw ninyo para marinig ng buong Pilipinas na dito sa Marikina, nagkaisa na sa likod ng UniTeam at sa tambalang Marcos-Duterte, nakikita namin na mahalaga ito dahil alam namin na galing sa puso ang inyong sigaw, pagkamay at suportang ibinibigay niyo sa amin,” he continued.

Marcos paused for a while in the middle of his speech as Marikeños shouted, “hindi kami papayag na dayain ka” in unison.

Marcos was obviously delighted and appreciative of their great desire to help and protect him.

“Hindi na tayo papayag, pagdating ng Mayo padadalhan ko kayo ng tone-toneladang kape, walang iidlip, kapag naiidlip minamalas tayo eh,” Marcos jokingly said.

“Walang tulugan, walang tulugan, walang tulugan!” his supporters shouted.

On the whole, the grand rally was a great success and was attended by hundreds of thousands of BBM-Sara supporters, according to the estimates of the Philippine National Police (PNP)-Marikina.

In addition, the live broadcast of SMNI attracted over 2.9 million viewers online. With Blessie Amor Vicente and Joanne Rosario (OJTs)