Vice Presidential bet Leni Robredo vouches for her running mate Mar Roxas and their senatorial slate before a hometown crowd in Bicol. JULLIANE LOVE DE JESUS/INQUIRER.net
NAGA CITY—“Please help Mar Roxas too.”
Administration vice presidential candidate Leni Robredo asked this to her fellow Nagueños during the two-day campaign blitz of the “Daang Matuwid” coalition in the Bicol region.
“Ang aking pakiusap na kung ako ay tutulungan ninyo ay tutulungan niyo rin si Sec. Mar Roxas,” Robredo said in her native dialect before hundreds of yellow-clad supporters at Plaza Quezon in Naga City.
(My request is if you are going to help me, please help Sec. Mar Roxas too.)
Her speeches in their visit in several cities of Camarines Sur province on Friday were centered on pitching for the Liberal Party standard-bearer, who is currently lagging behind Senator Grace Poe in recent polls.
READ: Robredo returns to roots as LP goes to Bicol
Robredo recalled the times when Roxas stood behind their family when her husband Jesse Robredo, who was a Mayor of the capital city of Camarines Sur for 19 years, died in a plane crash off the Masbate coast in 2012.
“Ipapaalala ko po sa inyo, lalo na sa mga taga-Naga, bago pa lang naging mayor si Jesse, lagi na nating bisita si Mar. Malaki o maliit na okasyon basta invited ni Jesse andyan siya. Fiesta, hindi fiesta, andyan siya,” said Robredo.
(Let me remind you, especially those from Naga, that even before Jesse became mayor, Mar would constantly visit us. Whether it was a big or a small occasion, as long as Jesse would invite him, Mar would come. Whether it was the festival or not, he would always be there.)
After the former Interior Secretary’s death, Robredo was thrust into politics due to the public clamor for her to run and challenge the Villafuerte dynasty holding the Camarines Sur third district congressional seat.
The late Robredo was then succeeded by Roxas as the Department of Interior and Local Government chief.
The incumbent lawmaker was faced with the similar dilemma when Roxas asked her to become his running mate in the 2016 elections.
“Sana samahan niyo po kami dahil wala naman akong sasandalan kung ‘di kayo. Wala namang dadamay sa akin ng buong-buo kundi kayo,” Robredo added.
(I hope you join us because I have no one to lean on except you. No one would wholeheartedly empathize with us except you.)
Robredo explained that it is important for both of them to win because her term as the future vice president would be not as productive if Roxas doesn’t become president.
“Lagi ko pong sinasabi kung tutulungan niyo ako pero kung hindi niyo tutulungan ang aking presidente, ay hindi po ako makakabwelo dahil depende sa kung anong tranbaho ang ibibigay saken ng presidnte. Kaya ganyan ka-importante kung tutulungan niyo ako at tutulungan niyo si Sec. Mar,” she said.
(I have been saying that if you will help me, but not help my president, then I won’t be able to make my moves because it would really depend on the responsibilities that the president would give me. That is why it is important for you to help Sec. Mar if you are going to help me.)
READ: Packaging Roxas, Robredo as one a ‘challenge’ to LP—Pangilinan
Robredo also asked her Bicolano supporters to give the equal amount of support to the 12 senators under the administration-backed coalition who all promised to continue the gains of President Benigno Aquino III’s “straight path.”
READ: Admin bets vow to shower CamSur with infra projects
“‘Yung tutulong sa akin ay sana tutulungan din ang lahat ng 12 senators dahil kami po ay naglalakad bilang isang pamilya,” she said.
(I hope that those who will help me will also help our 12 senators because we are in this together as a family.)
“Kaya hindi sapat na ako lang ang tutulungan at hindi tutulungan ang aking mga kasama dahil wala rin ‘yang saysay. Ang ating mga pangarap na hindi pa natutupad na gusto nating makamtan sa darating na panahon, mangayayari lang ‘yan kung ang ating presidente ay pakikingggan tayo,” she added.
(That’s why it’s not enough that you will support only me, and not my allies. The dreams that we want to realize will only become real if we will elect a president who will listen to us.) IDL