2 Iloilo schools endorse VP Robredo for president

Vice President Leni Robredo leads a mini-rally in Oton, Iloilo  (Photo by Ian Paul Cordero)

ILOILO CITY—Two schools in Iloilo have formally endorsed the presidential bid of Vice President Leni Robredo.

The Central Philippine University (CPU) in Iloilo City and Ateneo de Iloilo-Santa Maria Catholic School issued separate statements supporting Robredo.

In a statement dated March 17 but made public on Monday, April 4, the Board of Trustees of the CPU in Iloilo City openly declared support for Robredo.

“We believe that the future of our country, and that of the next generation, will be greatly determined by our national leadership, particularly our choice of the President of our Republic,” according to the statement signed by 19 members of the board led by its chairman Peter Irving Corvera and president Teodoro Robles.

“As Trustees of this honorable institution, we cannot remain silent in these critical times, and it has become incumbent upon us to make our position known in accordance with the values for which the University stands for,” it added.

The board said that among the candidates, Robredo reflects the values espoused by the university.

“Accordingly, we believe that the next President of the Republic should be a person of unquestionable honesty and integrity, free of corruption, with a proven track-record of competence, authenticity, and transparency; and who will be a model and inspiration to our citizens, particularly our youth,” the trustees, which include representatives of the students, staff, faculty, and alumni.”

Founded in 1905 as a Christian school by American Baptist missionaries, CPU has at least 75,000 alumni and a student population of 14,000.

At least 145 administrators, faculty members, and staff of the Ateneo de Iloilo-Santa Maria Catholic School also issued a statement supporting Robredo’s presidential bid.

They said Robredo is an example of “honorable, effective, transparent, selfless, and God-fearing servant-leadership.”

As mentors, they said they cannot turn a blind eye to the incompetence by which national situations are handled and represented.

“For as we aim to form students with good character, we cannot keep silent on the foulness and disrespect that abound in our seats of power–or on the dishonesty and corruption by which some public figures use and do to forward their personal interests,” they said.

The group also lamented “actions or inactions that only benefit the privileged while butchering the last, the least, and the lost.”

Robredo scored a landslide victory in the 2016 vice presidential race in Iloilo City and Iloilo province.

She garnered 706,052 votes, while former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. got 127,434 votes in Iloilo province.

She also won over Marcos by a wide margin in Iloilo City, garnering 137,662 votes against Marcos’ 33,778 votes.

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