Vice President Leni Robredo —OVP FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo has asked her supporters in La Union province — a known bailiwick of her arch-rival, former senator Bongbong Marcos — to continue opening their doors to people from other political colors.
Robredo, who visited San Fernando City on Tuesday morning, said that even if many people have gathered in the rally wearing pink — her campaign color — supporters should continue talking to other people as they are also Filipinos.
“Alam ko po na halos lahat dito naka-pink. Pero ang pakiusap ko sa lahat ng naka-pink, sana buksan pa rin natin ang mga puso natin do’n sa mga taong iba pa ‘yong kulay,” she told the crowd assembled at the Saint Louis College in San Fernando City.
(I know that most of you here are wearing pink. But my request is that all of you wearing pink open your hearts to people of different political colors.)
“Sana buksan pa din ang puso natin para sipagan pa tayo na ayain ‘yong mga taong iba pa ang paniniwala, mas maging mapagmahal po tayo, mas iintindihin natin ‘yong iba na kahit iba ‘yong paniniwala nila, kapatid pa rin natin sila,” she added.
(I hope we open our hearts to people with different beliefs, that we should be more loving, and understanding that even if others have different beliefs, they are still our brothers and sisters.)
Robredo went on to stress that true ‘unity’ is not measured by a coalition based on political interests but on the people’s desire for good governance.
“Kaya ko po ‘yan sinasabi dahil ang tunay na pagkakaisa nanggagaling sa pagmamahal sa bawat isa, kahit iba ang paniniwala. Ang tunay na pagkakaisa, hindi po pagkakaisa ng mga interes ng mga pulitiko. Ang tunay na pagkakaisa nanggagaling sa bawat isa sa atin,” she said.
(That’s why I am saying that true unity stems from the love of one person to another, even if we have different beliefs. True unity is not based on uniting the interests of politicians, but it comes from each one of us.)
The Vice President did not mention any particular candidate, but unity has been a central theme of the Marcos — who won in La Union when they faced off in the 2016 vice presidential race.
Results of the 2016 vice-presidential elections from the Commission on Elections showed that Robredo only got 19,596 votes in La Union, compared to Marcos’ 338,455.
Region-wide, the difference is huge: 1.764 million votes for Marcos and only 297,974 for Robredo.
These results have left Robredo wondering if people would even show up to the La Union rally. However, she told the crowd that she went past election results after being elected Vice President.
“Sobrang talo ko dito sa inyo. Pero kaya ko siya sinasabi, kaya ko po siya sinasabi dahil kahit talo ako, no’ng umupo na po ako ng Vice President, hindi ko kayo kinalimutan,” Robredo said.
(I lost badly here. But the reason I’m saying this is because even if I lost here when I was elected Vice President, I did not set you aside.)
“Bawat sakuna na tumatama dito sa inyo, nandito po kami, ‘yong Typhoon Ompong saka Typhoon Maring, nandito po kami, nagkaro’n po kami ng relief operations dito sa inyo, no’ng pandemic, hindi po namin kayo nakalimutan. Halos lahat na medical institutions dito sa inyo pinapadalhan po namin ng PPE sets at saka medical supplies,” she added.
(For every calamity that hits La Union, we were here, during Typhoons Ompong and Maring, we started relief operations. During the pandemic, we did not forget the people of La Union, we gave assistance to almost all medical institutions here, we brought them PPE sets and medical supplies.
She clarified though that there is nothing unusual from what she did, as serving the people — regardless of whom they supported — should be the mantra of public officials.
Recent surveys indicate that Robredo is still trailing Marcos, but Pulse Asia’s poll conducted from March 17 to 21 showed the Vice President gaining nine percentage points, increasing from a 15 percent voter preference to 24 percent.
Marcos’ lead is still big despite dropping four percentage points — at 56 percent — but Robredo’s camp believes the surveys have started to show the groundswell for her, and that the momentum is on her side now.
READ: Marcos still leads new Pulse Asia survey, but Robredo’s number rises by 9 points
READ: Groundswell of support reflected in Robredo’s survey spike, says spox