Leni Robredo: Campaign ends but not the movement

INQUIRER PHOTO

The election campaign may have ended, but the awakened movement lives on.

Addressing her first public gathering since the May 9 polls, Vice President Leni Robredo thanked her supporters while asking them to stay around and remain organized so they can help her continue efforts to lift the lives of the marginalized.

“On the first day of July, we will launch ‘Angat Buhay’ (Uplift Lives) as an NGO (nongovernmental organization),” Robredo told thousands of her supporters—who call themselves “kakampinks” for their political color—at the Ateneo de Manila University on Friday night.

READ: Robredo to raise ‘largest volunteer network’ soon after her term as VP ends

“We will establish the widest volunteer network in our country. We will continue to help those in the margins of our society,” she said as the crowd cheered.

The Vice President also asked them keep harnessing the spirit of volunteerism that powered her election campaign with her running mate, outgoing Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan.

Not conceding yet

Robredo and Pangilinan are trailing by a wide margin behind the Uniteam tandem of former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte in the unofficial canvassing of votes, but have yet to concede defeat.

A number of foreign leaders have already congratulated Marcos, who has also begun naming members of his Cabinet.

The opposition candidates said they were still consulting with data scientists, election lawyers and other experts to look into allegations of vote-buying and other forms of election cheating.

Still, Robredo urged her supporters to accept the outcome of the election.

“This day is not an ending, but the start of a new chapter,” she said. “And we will all be together in writing it. Let’s all light each other’s path.”

Leni Robredo’s term as Vice President ends on June 30.