Responding to Vice President Leni Robredo’s call to unite the people and reach out to Filipinos amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, volunteers on Wednesday, Nov. 3, organized various activities—from feeding programs to clean-up drives to free haircuts—across the country.
Most of them served lugaw (porridge) as a reference to Robredo being called "lugaw queen" by her detractors. Robredo’s volunteers in 2016 sold bowls of porridge to raise funds for her vice presidential campaign, and supporters of the current administration made fun of her because of this.
The spearheading of the various activities came after Robredo issued a challenge to her supporters on the occasion of "Kakampink Wednesdays", a weekly initiative meant to raise awareness about her presidential candidacy.
Specifically, the Vice President asked her supporters to reach out to those in need, especially people who lost loved ones and jobs because of the pandemic.
Kakampinks in Barangay Cembo in Makati City, Sitio Malalad Libertad in Butuan City, Pagbilao in Quezon province, San Simon in Pampanga, and Bagong Silang in Oriental Mindoro did just that, as they served porridge to passersby. They wore pink shirts and covered their makeshift stalls and tables with posters and banners of Robredo.
READ: Robredo rallies ‘kakampinks’ anew: ‘I depend on you to help one another’
In Kidapawan City, a similar feeding program was held with the addition of pink “puto (steamed rice cake)", which was served to the less fortunate.
The Tropang Leni Robredo San Simon Chapter served hot pandesal, hard-boiled eggs, and mineral water to 500 people, mostly children and senior citizens.
The QueLeni Tayo in Pagbilao, Quezon held a different activity before distributing porridge to residents. They first conducted a clean-up drive where they collected plastic waste in Barangay Parang “for proper disposal as part of their initiative to keep the environment clean".
In Robredo’s hometown of Naga City, supporters became more creative with the way they displayed their support for possibly the first Philippine president to come from Bicol.
Meanwhile, a coffee shop called Café Ancha gave away free pink pandesal for the residents as a reponse to the Vice President’s Kakampink Wednesday initiative.
Another establishment, a beauty parlor chain in Naga named Vanity Lane Salon, is also offering free haircuts every Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. the entire month of November provided that the salon-goers are wear pink and they are fully vaccinated from COVID-19.
The Dagupan for Leni group from Pangasinan, on the other hand, held a photo contest and free jeepney ride that they called "Spot Biyaheng Leni Photo Contest!” and “Libreng Sakay Biyaheng Leni,” respectively.
Participants need to spot the “Libreng Sakay Biyaheng Leni” jeepney along the Dagupan-Calasiao route and take a picture of it.
They have to upload the photo on their Facebook page with the hashtag #SpotBiyahengLeni. Five entries with the most likes on Facebook will get Ricci Premium Truffles, as well as a special edition custom shirt.
Robredo wants her campaign to be a “people’s campaign,” which will be driven by volunteerism. She said she has no resources and machinery like the other candidates, but she is emboldened by her supporters’ dedication to what she calls “the fight of their lives".
READ: Robredo ‘overwhelmed’ by supporters for considering her 2022 run ‘fight of their lives’
Aside from feeding programs, her supporters have also been organizing pink caravans and motorcades around the country and even overseas. Over the weekend, supporters from Hong Kong, California, and New Jersey held their very own pink caravan.