It has been said many times that Cebu could make or unmake national candidates during elections because of the province’s potential 2.4 million votes.

With this in mind and unperturbed by early reports that cited majority of local officials in Cebu’s first district have signified their support for Nacionalista Party presidential bet Senator Manny Villar, Liberal Party stalwarts led by its standard-bearer Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III are off to the vote-rich province Tuesday to prove their dominance there.

Cebu’s 1st district consists of the cities of Naga, Talisay and Carcar and three towns of Minglanilla, Sibonga and Carcar. The district has a voting population of at least 300,000.

Despite having visited Cebu several times to campaign, it will be the first time that Aquino and the rest of LP will visit the province’s first district.

From the port on Tuesday morning, the LP headed by its presidential standard-bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and his running mate Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas II will hold a press conference at the Cebu City hall at 11:30 a.m.

After the press conference, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña will host a private lunch for the LP candidates. At 2 p.m., a helicopter will convey them to Carcar City from where a motorcade will commence all the way to Talisay City.

TV host Kris Aquino and husband James Yap are also expected to attend but no confirmations were made as of press time.

Earlier, it was reported that 179 political leaders in Cebu’s 1st district allied with the One Cebu party and signed a manifesto to support and campaign for Villar instead of the administration party-endorsed candidate, Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro. However, Aquino recently gained the endorsement of several influential personalities from Cebu.

Former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. recently endorsed him and his running mate Sen. Manuel "Mar" Roxas II.

Davide, who had just resigned as Philippine Ambassador to United Nations, effective April 1, arrived home to help in the campaign of his son, Hilario III and running mate incumbent vice governor Gregorio Sanchez. Both are running under the Liberal Party against Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and her running mate Glenn Soco of One Cebu party.

While campaigning for his son was the main reason he faced the local media, Davide also bared his candidates for president and vice president. “And for the national slate, with all my heart, with all my mind, I am actually endorsing Noynoy and Mar Roxas,” he said.

Likewise, the Osmeñas continue to show their support for the candidacy of the late President Cory Aquino’s son.

Liberal Party (LP) senatorial candidate Sergio “Serge” Osmeña III recently pointed out that the reported defection of congressmen belonging to the Garcia family to Villar did not matter much in the province.

According to Osmeña, Aquino leads the presidential derby in the province by a mile and that Cebu continues to be Cory country.

In addition, Lawyer Aristotle Batuhan, a key figure identified with the opposition Kugi Uswag Sugbu (Kusug), has joined the sorties of the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) to campaign for Aquino.