Vice President Leni Robredo woos voters in Oriental Mindoro. (Photos from VP Leni Media Bureau)
DASMARIÑAS, Cavite — Vice President Leni Robredo remained optimistic about her chances in the 2022 presidential elections and said that she is “not at all” bothered by survey results which showed that she is a far second to a leading rival.
Robredo, after meeting her campaign volunteers in Dasmariñas City said that they are expecting that survey results by March or April will reflect the massive support that she and her running mate Senator Francis Pangilinan have been receiving.
Robredo said her numbers are even better now, during the same timeframe, compared to when she was running for vice president in 2016.
“Not at all, not at all. Coming from 2016? Coming from 2016, nag-number three ako nung 2016, late March na. Number three pa lang ako. Nag-number two ako, third week of April na. So ano talaga to, down to the finish lang talaga yung laban. Mas lalo tayong nai-inspire kasi nararamdaman natin yung energy talaga on the ground,” she said.
“So hopefully siguro by end March or early April, ma-capture na yung nakikita namin on the ground,” she added.
Robredo also stressed that the current campaign season challenge is to limit the size of the crowd during her sorties, given the health restrictions due to COVID-19.
Vice President Leni Robredo and Senator Francis Pangilinan (Screengrab from Facebook/OVP)
“Ngayon hindi mahirap mag-ipon ng tao. In fact ngayon, mas hirap kaming mag-limit ng tao because of the protocols. Hindi mahirap magpagalaw ng volunteers kasi wala pa kaming sinasabi, gumagalaw na sila. So ano to, very inspiring, very hopeful kaming lahat,” she added.
The vice president, however, admitted that the circumstances were different in 2016 and in 2022, because she was then running as a candidate of then president Benigno Aquino III’s administration.
Still, Robredo is seeing positives on a people-centric campaign, saying that the crowds attending her rallies are generic — that the supporters were present on their own accord.
Based on latest surveys, Robredo is still second in the presidential race, behind former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
Last February, polling firm Pulse Asia released a survey which showed that Marcos would be the runaway winner if elections were held from January 19 to 24, 2022, with 60 percent of the respondents picking him, while Robredo got 16 percent.