Georgina Hernandez-Yang, spokesperson for Leni Robredo INQUIRERFILE PHOTO/NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
A NO-FRILLS snack of native delicacies plus Choc Nut sans the usual VIP section.
Staying true to her promise, people from the laylayan (margins of society) will be the “bigwigs” when Vice President-elect Leni Robredo takes her oath of office in Quezon City on June 30.
Georgina Hernandez, Robredo’s spokesperson, on Monday said farmers, fisherfolk, community leaders and women’s rights advocates were among the 300 guests invited to witness the incoming Vice President’s inauguration.
As if keeping in step with President-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s austere oath-taking, she said snacks such as buchi (rice balls), sotanghon, pandesal, maja blanca, pichi-pichi and Choc Nut will be served during the midmorning gathering at the Quezon City Reception House, the new location of the Office of the Vice President.
Hernandez said Choc Nut, a local brand of chocolate-peanut candy, was one of Robredo’s favorite chocolates.
“Our venue is small. We don’t have a list of VIPs because [Robredo] wants to ensure that the event will be simple and that the members of the basic sectors who are close to her will be there,” Hernandez said at a press briefing.
“In fact in our seating, we don’t have reserved seats for VIPs. So this inauguration will really be simple and meaningful. We want it to be close to the people,” she said.
She said the incoming Vice President, who served as Camarines Sur representative for three years before winning in the May 9 balloting under the Liberal Party, would deliver a 10-minute speech in Filipino on her inauguration.
After being sworn in as the country’s 14th Vice President, she said Robredo would attend a victory party with her supporters at Quezon Memorial Circle in the afternoon.
On Saturday, Robredo would also celebrate her triumph with her townmates in Naga City, Hernandez said.
Despite being snubbed by Duterte’s camp in his own inauguration in Malacañang, Hernandez said Robredo had reiterated her willingness to help and cooperate with the incoming administration.
She said President Aquino’s four sisters had been invited, but they had sent word that they would not be able to attend the event since they would be accompanying the outgoing President during the turnover rites in Malacañang.
Mr. Aquino’s sisters openly supported Robredo’s campaign. Television host-actress Kris Aquino, the youngest of the Aquino siblings, was her biggest campaign contributor.