Religious coalition endorses Robredo for VP

By: Julliane Love De Jesus - 9 years ago

Editors’ note: This article has been corrected after a clarification from the Pilipino Movement for Transformational Leadership (PMTL) that it was the People’ Choice Movement that endorsed vice presidential candidate Leni Robredo. The Robredo camp earlier released a statement that PMTL and its member organizations endorsed the Liberal Party candidate. KS

LIBERAL PARTY vice presidential bet Leni Robredo has secured the endorsement of the People’s Choice Movement, a group composed of members of faith-based organizations, less than a month before the 2016 national elections.

The People’s Choice Movement, which aims to reach 10 million voters from the Catholic, Christian and Evangelical communities, announced that the group is supporting Robredo in a ceremony at Club Filipino on Tuesday.

The administration bet expressed elation over the support of the movement after it studied the platforms of all six candidates seeking the vice presidency.

“Napakalaking karangalan para sa akin na of the six of us, ako ang napiling iendorso lalong lalo na alam natin gano ito ka-crucial. Hindi ito eleksyon ng personalidad, pero eleksyon ito ng mga pinapaniwalan natin na mahahalagang bagay,” she said in an interview.

“Hindi madaling ma-endorso ng PMTL (Pilipino Movement for Transformational Leadership). Mahaba ‘yung proseso nila. In-assess kami bilang kandidato hindi lang sa pagkatao kundi kung saan kami tumatayo sa mga issues,” Robredo added.

(It is a great honor for me that out of the six of us, I was the one chosen to be endorsed, especially knowing that this [endorsement] is very crucial. This is not an election of personalities but an election of our convictions regarding important matters.

(It’s not easy for one to be endorsed by the PMTL. Their process is lengthy. They assess us as candidates not just based on our character, but on where we stand on certain issues.)

During the ceremony, Robredo signed a covenant promising to implement the reform agenda addressing poverty reduction, job creation and good governance drafted by the People’s Choice Movement should she win the elections in May.

The Camarines Sur representative, who is faring better in the surveys than her running mate former Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, said the endorsement will help her improve her numbers particularly in Metro Manila, where Senator Bongbong Marcos is leading. The latest Pulse Asia survey showed Marcos leading the VP race with 28 percent. Robredo is in second place with 21 percent, overtaking Senator Francis Escudero who got 21 percent.

READ: Marcos rules Pulse Asia VP poll; Robredo rises

“Kaya napakahalaga ng PMTL kasi ‘yun mga organizations na nasa ilalim nila, sila ‘yung may connection sa ground so syempre ‘yung flock maabot nila. So sana kung sino ‘yung di namin maabot, maabot nila,” she said.

(That’s why the PMTL is so important, it’s because of the organizations under it, they are the ones with connections to the ground so definitely they can reach the flock. So, hopefully they can reach the ones we can’t reach.)

While the PMTL is “a movement of various faith-based Christian organizations that aims to help its members to elect honest, competent and strong-willed servant leaders for our country,” it does not endorse candidates. The People’s Choice, on the other hand, is composed of volunteers from various groups, including member organizations of PMTL.

In its website, the People’s Choice Movement said it will “organize a national campaign team and machinery to support the
candidates in their campaign.” The group is also endorsing Senator Grace Poe and former interior secretary Mar Roxas.