A coalition of some 500 urban poor community organizations united on Monday, August 2, to launch LENI Urban Poor in a bid to call on Vice President Leni Robredo to run for president in the 2022 polls.
The coalition hopes to stop the possibility of a second term by President Duterte if he wins as vice president, which he claims he will run for to avoid lawsuits, or if his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, runs as president.
In a statement, LENI Urban Poor said they believe that out of all political leaders today, the vice president “has the clearest understanding of the problems of the common people.”
“We declare that Leni should run for President. She should be the President. We also support Leni’s efforts to build broad opposition unity, which is based on her clear understanding of the political situation,” the coalition’s manifesto said.
“We agree with Leni that, more than anything, it is important to build a united opposition with only one presidential candidate. Like Leni, we believe this is the only way for democratic forces to succeed,” it added.
The manifesto, which was signed by more than 200 urban poor community leaders, was read during the virtual launch of the LENI Urban Poor on Facebook.
READ: Urban poor groups to launch pro-Leni coalition
The coalition brings together major social housing federations in the Philippines and non-government organizations working for social housing.
The coalition, in particular, backs Robredo because of her support for the “people’s plan” approach, which was also championed by her husband, the late former Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo.
This approach is based on self-initiative, self-responsibility, and self-reliance. It aims to empower the urban poor and marginalized sectors from “informal” to active citizenship as the people’s plan approach allows community associations of informal settlers to propose housing projects to the government’s housing financing agencies.
“The people’s plan approach is preferred by the urban poor instead of being relocated to distant resettlement sites built by the National Housing Authority (NHA),” the coalition said.
It noted that the vice president backed this proposal during her stint as chairperson of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) during the early months of the Duterte administration.
“The grievances of the people are clear: poverty, hunger, lack of assistance in the midst of the pandemic, insecurity in the housing tenure of the poor, corruption, violence, human rights abuses, neglect, and injustice. We believe that Leni as President is the only hope that we can once again face those problems with courtesy, respect, and trust in each other, as would have been the case in a democratic society,” Manny Manato, the leader of Kilos Maralita, said in the statement.
READ: Robredo declares: 'I’m still open to running for president'
Robredo has yet to make a formal announcement on her plans to run as president though the opposition largely relies on the possibility of her seeking the country’s highest post. Aside from the urban poor sector, women’s groups and other organizations have also voiced out their support for the vice president.