A popular French cafe during the early 2000s and Baguio’s most famous ube jam maker are just some of the businesses turning pink for presidential aspirant Vice President Leni Robredo.
Cafe Breton, which serves French crepes and coffee since 1998 and has branches in Makati and Sta. Rosa, Laguna, changed their Twitter name to Cafe Breton is for Leni followed by a pink ribbon and Philippine flag emojis.
In all of their stores, their wait staff are in pink polos with some wearing pink face masks as well. They also serve their crepes alongside a Leni-Kiko sticker to show their support for Robredo and her running mate Senator Kiko Pangilinan.
The main entrances of all their stores have a large pink parol and on top of their dining tables are vases tied with a pink ribbon.
Earlier this month, there was a call from the supporters of other presidential candidates to boycott Cafe Breton, but the cafe owners stood by its choice.
“We at Cafe Breton are happy to report that there are a lot more Kakampinks who support us! We will not back down and we will show our true colors. We intend to leave a legacy of decency and bravery to our children. We are in this fight for their future and our country!,” it said on Twitter.
Kakampinks, a combination of the words “kakampi (ally)” and pink, immediately went to the cafe’s defense and called on other supporters of Robredo and Pangilinan to start dining at Cafe Breton.
On Wednesday, Dec. 8, the cafe stressed its stand by retweeting a quote with the hashtag #tumindig or to stand firmly in English, which is in reference to the Tumindig artwork that called for change amid corrupt activities in the government.
Aside from Cafe Breton, the Good Shepherd store in Baguio, which is run by nuns turned their traditionally purple ube jam to pink.
Musician, activist, and Robredo supporter Jim Paredes posted a photo of the pink ube jam on Twitter.
“PINK UBE. Selling at Good Shepherd in Baguio,” he said of the photo showing the infamous bottled jam with the colored pink concoction.
The bottled pink ube is still without preservatives, but the nuns who made them used sugar beets. It is also not for sale yet as it was simply given to Robredo’s team, who visited Baguio on Dec. 6 and 7.
Robredo visited the Good Shepherd on Monday, Dec. 6, to congratulate the scholars of its Mountain Maid Training Center.
She said that a visit to Baguio isn’t complete without stopping by Good Shepherd to bring some goodies to her family.
“Sana po maramdaman niyo na marami 'yung napapasaya niyo sa mga produktong ginagawa niyo. Marami 'yung, parang naging tatak ng Baguio 'yung produktong gawa niyo dahil kahit 'yung mga hindi nakakarating sa Baguio dala-dala nila 'yung taste of Baguio dahil sa mga produkto niyo (I hope you can feel that your products make a lot of people happy. There’s a lot who, your products have become Baguio’s brand because even those who haven’t been to Baguio, they can get a taste of Baguio through your products),” Robredo told the nuns and scholars there.
She also offered to help the foundation through the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) livelihood and medical assistance programs.