An aerial shot of Vice President Leni Robredo’s more than 80,000 supporters in a grand campaign rally Thursday, April 28, in Lucena City. | PHOTO: Danny Ordoñez
LUCENA CITY––With 11 days to go before the May 9 elections, presidential candidate and Vice President Leni Robredo urged her supporters to continue the hard work to ensure their victory.
“Magtratrabaho pa tayo. Hindi pa tayo panalo. Kailangan pa nating magpagod,” Robredo told the crowd of more than 80,000 supporters from different parts of Quezon province, who braved the seething heat and threats of rains for the grand rally on Thursday, April 28, in that lasted until the evening in this city.
[We still have to work. We have not yet won. We need to make effort.]
She teased the rally attendees: “Hindi pa ninyo ako puwedeng ihatid sa Malacañang.”
[You still can not bring me to Malacañang]
No new surveys have been released, but Pulse Asia’s most recent poll — held from March 17 to 21 — showed presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. way ahead at 56 percent, compared to Robredo’s 24 percent.
However, Robredo’s camp has insisted that Google Trends, which takes into account searches of entries related to presidential candidates, points toward a Robredo victory in contrast to what recent scientific surveys projected.
Current Google Trends data, which covers April 10 to 16, showed Robredo appearing in 47 percent of all searches about the top five presidential candidates in the 2022 national elections.
Trailing her is Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso and Marcos with 20 percent each.
The Robredo People’s Council-Quezon organized the campaign rally dubbed “Quezonduan” that was held at the vast Lucena City government complex outside of the city proper.
Some of her senatorial candidates accompanied the vice president, but without her running mate, Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan.
Citing figures from the crowd management unit, Lt. Colonel Reynaldo Reyes, Lucena police chief, said the number of rally attendees reached 80,000 to 90,000, some coming from nearby towns.
Joselito de Los Reyes, University of Santo Tomas literature professor and pop culture expert who lives in Lucban town, traveled 24 kilometers with some friends to attend the campaign rally.
“Ito na ang pinakamalapit naming lugar to show support for Leni. We need to make her feel na kaya naming lumabas para sa kaniya,” De los Reyes told the Inquirer.
[This is the nearest place where we can show support for Leni. We need to make her feel that we could go out for her.]
In her 26-minute campaign speech, Robredo stressed that the coming election is not a contest just between political candidates.
“Ang election na ito, ang ipinaglalaban natin ay ang ating bansa,” she emphasized.
[In this election, we are fighting for our country.]
She added: “Kaya dito ngayong gabi, welcome lahat, kakampink man o hindi dahil yun ang gusto nating ipakita na dapat ang pamahalaan tunay na nagkakaisa. Hindi pagkakaisa ng mga pulitiko lamang. Ito ay pagkakaisa ng bawat Pilipino na gustong ayusin ang kanyang pamahalaan.”
[That is why here tonight, everyone is welcome, pink allies or not because we want to show that the government is united genuinely. Not the unity only of politicians. This is the unity of all Filipinos who want to fix their government.]
But she warned voters against candidates who only appear during election campaign season to woo the people’s votes.
“Ang dapat tinatanong ng mga taga-Quezon, noong wala pa bang election naalala nyo ba kaming bisitahin? Noong hindi pa ba sila kandidato, ano bang tulong ang dinala dito sa Quezon?”
[Quezon folk should ask: When there was no election, did you remember to visit us? When they were not candidates, what help did they bring to Quezon?]
She stressed: “Dahil napakadali lang magsabi na mahal nila ang Quezon. Pero ang pinakaresibo para malaman natin na talagang mahal nila yung Quezon, hindi pababayaan. May kampanya man o wala hindi tayo iniiwan…tuloy-tuloy ang trabaho at hindi yung nagpapakita tuwing election lang at kandidato na sila.”
[Because it is easy to say they love Quezon. But the real proof to know that they love Quezon folk is they would not abandon them. Whether there is a campaign or not, they do not leave us … the work continues and that they do not show only during elections and when they run as candidates]
She did not mention the names of candidates who were the subject of her tirades.
Robredo recalled that she led the relief operations in Polillo island and General Nakar town to help victims of Typhoon “Ulysses” in November 2020.
“Sa bawat sakunang nangyayari, andito kami. Bawat bagyo, nagkakaroon tayo ng relief operations,” she said.
[In every accident, we are here. Every typhoon, we have relief operations]
Robredo also cited several livelihood projects and programs from her “Angat Buhay” program that have been implemented in the province since 2016 after she assumed the vice presidency.
She narrated the rollouts of “community learning hubs” for displaced school children and the distribution of equipment and protective gear for health care workers during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The vice president asked the voters to scrutinize her and Pangilinan’s track records.
“Kapag kami po ang nagsabi sa inyo na ayaw namin ng corruption, ang resibo po namin ang aming track records,” she said.
[When we say that we don’t like corruption, our proofs are our track records]
The Commission on Audit (COA) has cited the Office of the Vice President (OVP) with the highest audit rating for the past three years.
The state auditors gave an “unqualified opinion” to the OVP on its financial report for 2019, 2019, and 2020.
According to COA, an “unqualified opinion” rating is the best opinion a government agency could receive. COA gives such a rating when a government office has fairly presented its financial position and has its financial statements in order, according to the Philippine Public Sector Accounting Standards.
Robredo boasted that Pangilinan had never been involved in any anomalies during his government service since 2001.
“Mahalaga na ang mga lingkod bayan ninyo ay hindi kurakot, para mapangalagaan ang pera ng taong bayan…kahit hindi kalakihan, marami yung natutulungan. Pero kung kinukarakot, kahit na napakalaki ng pondo, parating kulang,” Robredo explained.
[Your public servants mustn’t be corrupt so they could take care of public finances…that even though not too much, many are helped, but if plundered, even if the funds are huge, they are not enough]
Robredo was welcomed on the stage with a song and dance about “tagayan”, a drinking ritual in the province as a symbol of spirited welcome to visiting friends and guests.
Priests’ endorsement
Before Robredo delivered her campaign speech, Fr. Joey Faller, the popular “healing” priest and administrator of “Kamay ni Hesus” shrine in Lucban town, prayed over the seated presidential candidate at the center of the stage.
Faller was among the 84 Catholic priests from the Diocese of Lucena who declared their support to Robredo and her running-mate Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan.
The priests, in a statement, cited several reasons why they chose Robredo over other presidential candidates and emphasized that she is qualified to become the next president.
Earlier, Robredo held campaign rallies in Catanauan, Gumaca, and Guinayangan.
On April 18, the vice president likewise held rallies in Infanta town and the island town of Polillo in northern Quezon.
Quezon province is known as Robredo’s bailiwick.
In the 2016 vice presidential race, Robredo received more than 380,000 votes against her main rival, former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who got more than 171,000 votes.