ILOILO, Philippines – The ruling Liberal Party (LP) will be winding down its 2016 national campaign in the same vote-rich provinces where it held send-offs for standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II and running mate Leni Robredo.

The entire first week of May will see the two holding major rallies in the provinces of Iloilo and Camarines Sur, before it holds its final miting de avance in different cities of Metro Manila.

Roxas and Robredo will be joined by President Benigno Aquino III, party chairman, for a campaign rally in the city of Iloilo on Tuesday, May 3.

On Thursday, May 5, the tandem will then head to Naga City in Camarines Sur for another grand rally before the campaign officially ends in Metro Manila on May 7.

Aquino is also expected to join his anointed candidates in the Naga and Metro Manila rallies. 

Iloilo province and Camarines Sur are considered bailiwicks of the ruling LP. Camarines Sur is Robredo’s home province while Iloilo is in the same area as Negros Occidental and Capiz, home provinces of Roxas.

Both provinces, home to more than 2 million voters combined, also played host when the LP kicked off its campaign the week of February 9.

Roxas and Robredo are the preferred candidates in Western Visayas region, which Iloilo belongs to. The city also happens to be the hometown of reelectionist Senate President Franklin Drilon.

In the Bicol region, which Camarines Sur belongs to, Roxas is a close second to Senator Grace Poe, according to a Manila Standard poll conducted by Laylo Research Strategies.

Neither Roxas nor Robredo have topped any of the major polling firms’ preference surveys, although they are inching closer to their rivals.

It’s it the National Capital Region (NCR) where both Roxas and Robredo are the weakest. Traditionally a bailiwick of the opposition, only 11% of respondents in the Standard poll said they would vote for Roxas. The most vote-rich city in the Philippines and NCR, Quezon City, is ruled by allies of the LP.

Roxas is trailing behind current front runner Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Poe, while Robredo is second to front runner Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. – Rappler.com