Robredo camp expects 500K attendees in Makati miting de avance on May 7
MANILA, Philippines — The camp of presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo is expecting at least half a million people to attend her miting de avance in Makati City on May 7.
Robredo’s spokesman Barry Gutierrez said they are expecting more attendees than the Vice President’s grand rally in Pasay City last April 23 where 400,000 people participated in the event.
The event coincided with Robredo’s 57th birthday.
READ: PH’s top stars come out for Leni-Kiko ‘Araw Na10 ‘To’ grand rally in Pasay
“We expect that this will be more. Conservatively, I think the campaign is banking on at least half a million although some are saying we can easily hit a million attendees to the Saturday miting de avance in NCR,” he said in an interview over ABS CBN News Channel.
Gutierrez said Robredo is currently going around the country, visiting several provinces as the campaign period is set to end this Saturday.
He said the activities on this final week is a “series of mini miting de avance leading up to the final big event” in Makati City on May 7.
Pulse Asia survey
While the latest pre-election survey from Pulse Asia placed Robredo in second place, trailing behind Ferdinand Marcos Jr., on preferred presidential bets, Gutierrez said they are still confident that the Vice President will clinch the victory on the May 9 polls.
This is based on the level of citizen mobilization and volunteer engagement seen in Robredo’s campaign, Gutierrez said, which he said he has never seen before in previous elections.
“I am really banking on the fact that in every other election I have seen, I have not seen this level of citizen mobilization and volunteer engagement for any candidate and that is really the special thing about this election and regardless of the outcome,” he said.
“I am pretty confident that the outcome [of the elections] will be positive for us. I think we are seeing a new stage in Philippine electoral politics because of this,” Gutierrez said.
He also said that Robredo’s mammoth rallies where hundreds of thousands have attended and the thousands of volunteers doing house-to-house campaigns will “prove to be a decisive factor” in the country of the May 9 polls.
He said that the outcome of the elections may either affirm some pre-election survey results or may force people to “reevaluate their tools for determining a winner in the Philippine elections.”
“We’re feeling pretty good, we’re feeling pretty confident, and we think ultimately the people will spell the difference in this very unique, very historical election,” Gutierrez said.
Surprises from Visayas, Mindanao
Gutierrez said Robredo may “pull some surprises” and “win big” in certain regions in the Visayas and Mindanao, based on the number of local leaders and groups based there who have shown their support for the Vice President.
“I think we are well poised to win big in several regions in the Visayas. There will be surprises in Mindanao. I think the support she has gotten from a number of local leaders, a number of influential groups based in Mindanao over the course of the last few weeks will definitely spell a major difference come election day and come the actual time in delivering results,” he said.
