FILE PHOTO: Senator Kiko Pangilinan (left) and Vice President Leni Robredo. INQUIRER
DUMAGUETE CITY — Members of the different sectors in Negros Oriental organized a campaign in support of Vice President Leni Robredo and Senator Kiko Pangilinan’s bid for president and vice president, respectively.
“After our early fishing every day, we volunteer to do a house-to-house campaign for ma’am Leni and sir Kiko…we use our own small money from the fishes we sell every day to buy tarpaulins, flyers, and snacks” Dumaguete Fisherfolk Association head, Lee Amil, told the Inquirer.
Amil said the fisherfolk decided to support the Leni-Kiko tandem because of its “track record of always helping the poorest sectors in the country, including the fisherfolk.”
“Many will laugh at us because why do we exert effort for them, when in fact ma’am Leni and sir Kiko never knew us… But we don’t listen to those negative comments because we are doing this for our community. We wanted to be heard also because for a very long time we fishermen are always left in the margin,” he said.
According to Amil, their support for the Leni-Kiko tandem is also a fight against the proposed 174-hectare reclamation project in Dumaguete.
“Maam Leni already made a statement that she is anti-reclamation. Here in Dumaguete, our livelihood was threatened because of the proposed reclamation project. We believe in ma’am Leni’s words to stand against reclamation. We will vote for her because she is the kind of leader that considers our welfare even if we are poor,” he said.
During the presidential forum organized by the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas last week, Robredo said reclamation projects are done in a “shallow consultation” leaving the stakeholders “unheard.”
The Negros Dumaguete Makataong Organisasyon ng mga Tsuper at Operator (NDMOTO), a transport group also started their independent campaign for the Robredo-Pangilinan team.
“All of our efforts are voluntary. We can actually just do our trips in the city and earn enough before going home, but the election is crucial. It’s already between life and death. We also need to work for it because we all want real development that we in the transport sector will not be left behind,” Collado said.
“We believe in mam Leni Robredo’s capacity to help us uplift from our poor condition. Her track records, even before entering politics, shows how she helps poor sectors like us,” he added.
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