Negros Occidental awash with pink during Leni Robredo’s visit
Negros Occidental musters the biggest crowd yet for a grand people’s rally for presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo and her running mate, Sen. Kiko Pangilinan, with 70,000 people packing the Paglaum Sports Complex in Bacolod City on Friday, March 11, 2022. (VP Leni Media Bureau)
BACOLOD CITY — It was one of the biggest rallies seen in this capital city of Negros Occidental.
More than 70,000 people showed up at the Grand People’s Rally of presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo at the Paglaum Stadium on Friday, March 11.
The 35,000-capacity stadium was jampacked with people in pink, spilling on the nearby streets outside the venue.
Robredo’s camp said it was their biggest rally so far.
People started coming in in the morning even if the event was scheduled to start about 4 p.m.
By 5 p.m., the stadium was already full with thousands more gathering outside.
The rally in Bacolod was the last stop of Robredo’s visit to Negros Occidental.
Before the Bacolod rally, Robredo and running mate, Sen. Kiko Pangilanan visited the cities of Sagay, San Carlos, Kabankalan, La Carlota and Himaymaylan and the towns of Binalbagan and Hinigaran .
Robredo won by a wide margin in the vice presidential race in Negros Occidental in 2016.
Despite her victory, she didn’t forget the province and delivered numerous projects to the area, including assistance to the victims of Typhoon Odette.
The series of rallies kicked off at 7 a.m. at the Bishop’s Compound in San Carlos City where the group was welcomed by San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza.
At least 3,000 young voters were at the venue which was graced by Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson.
In his speech, Lacson called on the crowd to vote for Robredo whom he described as intelligent, sincere, helpful, and trustworthy.
“The victory of our candidate is in your hands. This election on May 9, we do not need to listen to our elders. Let us make the decision for ourselves,” Lacson said.
A crowd of 20,000-pink clad Negrenses greeted Robredo in Sagay where she was endorsed by Rep. Leo Rafael Cueva of Negros Occidental’s second district, Sagay City Mayor Alfredo Marañon III, and Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante.
In her speech in Sagay, Robredo assured the crowd that she and Pangilinan had served the country without any tinge of corruption to their names.
“If you choose the wrong candidate, the nation will suffer for six years. Let us prove to all that power is in the hands of the ordinary Negrenses,” she said.
“If we show our love of country by voting right, we will show to them that the power is with us,” she added.
Huge crowds of pink supporters also greeted Robredo in her sorties throughout southern Negros Occidental.
At the St. Columban Arts Center of the Kabankalan Catholic College in Kabankalan City, she was greeted by a crowd of 5,000, and 2,000 more at the Binalbagan Catholic College in Binalbagan town.
In a whistle-stop in Hinigaran town, she was also greeted by a cheering crowd of 2,000.
She also visited the Community Learning Hub (CLH) in Barangay Caradio-an, Himamaylan City, where she was welcomed by parents, students, and volunteers.
The CLH is a COVID-19 response initiative of the Office of the Vice President where students can consult tutors and avail of gadgets and connect to the internet for online classes and print school requirements for free after the pandemic forced schools to close and shift to distance learning.
Robredo joined a rally in La Carlota City where she was met by about 5,000 supporters before proceeding to Bacolod City for the Grand People’s Rally late Friday afternoon.
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