Vice President Leni Robredo returned to Manila on Monday, July 26, taking home with her the cuisine specialty of Bicol, known for its native spicy delicacies.
In a Facebook post, Robredo bared a list of iconic Bicolano food given to her by friends and neighbors during her three-day trip to her home province.
“Arrived from my Bicol trip just now after an 8-hour car ride. Always one of the best parts of coming back is unpacking all the food that I brought from home,” she said shortly upon arrival in her Quezon City home.
Robredo, a Bicolano, shared she got pili, santol, frozen Bicol Express and frozen ginataang Tabagwang. She is a native of Naga City, Camarines Sur.
She got the santol from her next-door neighbors, who also gave her a pack of fresh fish and shrimps. The Tabagwang, a native dish of Bicol, was given to her by their barangay captain “who always sends me the best home-cooked food whenever she knows I’m around.”
The vice president mentioned that she received the pili from a certain Marilou Reyta while the Bicol Express was from a “longtime family friend.”
“There is more food to unpack. Among them are several packs of my favorite badi and langkoy from our dear Archbishop Rolly Tirona, who always sends food pag nababalitaan niyang (when he hears) I’m home,” Robredo said.
She added that they have many friends in Naga who know hers and her daughters’ favorite food.
“Inuunti unti ko ang pagbukas (I’m unwrapping them slowly) because it feels like opening presents on a Christmas morning,” she said.
The vice president was in Naga to oversee the NagaVax Express, which inoculated more than 6,700 individuals with Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine from July 23 to 24. She also graced on Sunday the turnover of the farm-to-market road and farm equipment to the May Ogob Agrarian Reform Cooperative in Camarines Sur.
READ: COVID-19 vaccines for 6,715 persons from Robredo’s NagaVax Express
Robredo returned to Manila in time for President Duterte’s last State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 26, at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City.