Vice President Leni Robredo said she feels "stronger support" coming Cebu, the same province that gave her a convincing victory over her rival, former Senator Bongbong Marcos, in the 2016 elections.
Robredo, who has spent the past couple of days in Cebu, gave this assessment in a radio interview when asked to gauge the locals' support for her based on how she has been received.
Robredo and Marcos are both vying for the presidency in the upcoming 2022 polls.
Radio anchor lawyer Ruphil Bañoc of DYHP 612 RMN Cebu told Robredo: "600,000 votes iyong nabigay ng mga Cebuano, while iyong second, iyong si Bongbong Marcos ay mga 100,000 votes lang (The Cebuanos gave you 600,000 votes , while the placer, Bongbong Marcos, only received 100,000)."
"Sa tingin ninyo, maaasahan ba iyong the same support or more than iyong nakuha ninyo sa 2016? (Do you think you can expect the same support or more than what you received in 2016?)" he asked the lady official.
"Ako, ayaw ko kasing gamitin iyong word na 'aasahan' eh. Kasi pag aasahan, parang entitled ako. Para naman sa akin, kailangan kong pagtrabahuhan. Kailangan kong pagtrabahuhan, pero kung ang sukatan kasi iyong nakikita ko ngayon, mas grabe ngayon (I don't want to use the word 'expect'. When you say expect, it's like I'm entitled. For me, I need to work for it. I need to work for it, but if we measure it by what I've been seeing, it's stronger)," Robredo said.
"Mas grabe ngayon compared noon kasi ngayon kahit siguro iyong nawala sa amin iyong support ng maraming mga politiko kasi wala na ako sa admin, pero ang kapalit naman nito ano talaga, spontaneous at saka organic iyong tulong ng tao (The support is stronger now compared to then because--while we lost the support of many politicians due to us being the opposition--we're witnessing the spontaneous and organic support of the people)," she noted.
"Halimbawa, everywhere we go may mga taong naghihintay na ano talaga, hindi ko ito naranasan ng 2016 (For example, everywhere we go there were people waiting, I didn't experience this back in 2016)," she added.
Robredo, 56, had previously rallied her supporters or "kakampinks" to carry out a "people's campaign" ahead of the May 2022 polls.
"Iyong mga tao mismo iyong nag-o-organize, na tingin ko maganda ito kumpara doon sa mas traditional, mas conventional. Kasi ito, parang iyong tao ngayon hindi na lang siya supporter. Parang siya invested sya sa kampanya (It's the people themselves who are organizing the events and I think this is better compared to the more traditional, more convention way. Now, the people aren't just supporters. They are invested in the campaign)," she explained.
Robredo said that she would not have become the vice president without her landslide showing in Cebu five years ago.
She beat Marcos--her closest opponent in the nationwide tally--by less than 220,000 votes in the 2016 vice presidential race.
Marcos is the son of the late former strongman President Ferdinand Marcos.