The hashtag #LeniKiko2022 topped Twitter’s trending list in the country at 12 p.m. of Saturday, Oct. 23, the same day that various provinces and cities held a nationwide parade to show support for the opposition tandem in the 2022 elections.
“TROPA ng Pag-asa: The People’s Proclamation Motorcade for #LeniKiko2022” began at 10 a.m. and concluded at 12 noon in 49 cities and provinces in the Philippines. The event celebrated the nomination of Vice President Leni Robredo and Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, as well as their 12 senatorial candidates, in a bid to return the country to “good governance.”
TROPA is a portmanteau or a combination of syllables, of the words team, Robredo, and Pangilinan.
“Tumitingin ako sa mga posts ng mga #kakampink mula Luzon, Visayas, at Mindanao, at di ko mapigil na maluha (I’m looking at the posts of our #kakampink from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, and I can’t help but get teary-eyed),” Barry Gutierrez, Robredo’s spokesman, said in a tweet.
“Tumindig tayo at may tumindig sa tabi natin. Ang gaang sa loob kapag alam mong hindi ka mag-isa. Tuloy lang ang pag-uusap at pagmamahal. Dadami pa tayo (We made a stand and someone stood by our side. It’s feels good to know that you are not alone. Let’s continue sharing and loving. We are going to grow),” he added.
Gutierrez included an emoji of a pink ribbon and the caravan’s official hashtag, #LeniKiko2022, in his tweet.
READ: ‘Pink not just a color, it’s a way of life'–Robredo
This hashtag topped the Philippine trends with nearly 30,000 tweets as of posting.
Also on Twitter, Manuel L. Quezon III, columnist and grandson of the late president, said that the photos of videos of the motorcade show “how the impossible is now possible and what once ruled out lives can be banished.”
Riders of motorcycles, bikes, cars, vans, tricycles tied pink and green ribbons and balloons on their vehicles and wrapped them with stickers and tarpaulins bearing Robredo’s and Pangilinan’s images.
They joined the caravan that brought together people from all walks of life, including the official Team Leni Robredo, sectoral groups such as Lawyers for Leni, Riders for Leni, and Bikers for Leni, as well as allied groups and coalitions—Liberal Party Chapters, 1Sambayan, People Power Volunteers for Reform (PPVR), Alliance of Labor Leaders for Leni (ALL4Leni), Leni Urban Poor, and many others.
READ: Robredo ‘overwhelmed’ by supporters for considering her 2022 run ‘fight of their lives’
Even in President Duterte’s political bailwick, a small group of supporters held a pink parade for Robredo. They chanted “Laban Leni (Fight, Leni),” as they held tarpaulins emblazoned with her name.
“Laban” or fight is also the same word chanted by Filipinos during the EDSA People Power 1 and the proclamation of the late former President Corazon Aquino after the peaceful revolt ended the Marcos dictatorship.
Robredo’s camp said a caravan was held in at least 49 areas around the country—from Dagupan, Pangasinan in Region 1 to Surigao del Sur in Region 13. The motorcade in the National Capital Region (NCR) reportedly drew the most crowd.
In some provinces like Tarlac City, the Aquino bailiwick, pink confetti rained over the main thoroughfare of F. Tañedo, a Twitter post showed.