Team Leni-Kiko gets creative, adopts stop-and-go style for campaign
LIBMANAN, Camarines Sur — To ensure COVID-19 safety protocols, presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo’s team adopted a whistle stop style in campaigning wherein candidates arrived standing on their vehicles and took turns addressing the crowd.
Robredo arrived atop a pink vehicle with her daughters—Aika, Tricia, and Jillian—as the rest of the team spoke to the crowd while standing on their vehicles in Libmanan, Camarines Sur where Team Robredo-Pangilinan (TRoPa) attended a mini rally for the second district.
“Bilang VP, uunahin natin ang agrikultura at pagkain, dahil lahat tayo 3 beses sa isang araw kailangan natin ang magsasaka, kailangan natin ang mangingisda (As a vice president, we will prioritize agriculture and food because all of us need farmers and fishermen three times a day),” Vice Presidential bet Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan said.
Human right lawyer Chel Diokno, who is running for the second time under the Katipunan ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KANP), also addressed the crowd and spoke about his pro-justice reform platform.
“Sigurado po tayo na pag may Diokno sa Senado, ang lahat ng dehado, lamado (We are sure that if there is a Diokno in the Senate, the disadvantaged will be at an advantage),” he said.
Diokno is the son of revered statesman and nationalist Jose “Ka Pepe” Diokno.
Senator Richard Gordon, a guest candidate of TRoPa, was also in Robredo’s bailiwick of Camarines Sur to join the start of the campaign.
“Habang nandito si Dick Gordon, lagot ang mga nangungurakot katulad ng Pharmally (As long as Dick Gordon is here, the corrupt like Pharmally will pay),” the head of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee said.
He recently recommended the filing of charges against Pharmally officials and Duterte himself for the multi-billion contract that delivered substandard and overpriced medical supplies.
Former Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat Jr., a known environmentalist and champion of indigenous people’s rights, arrived wearing a “bahag.”
He wore the bahag, a strip of cloth commonly used by men during pre-colonial Philippines to cover one’s private parts, to symbolize that Robredo’s team has no hidden issues of corruption.
“Ako po ay nag-bahag para idiin ang ipinaglalaban ni Leni Robredo para sa good governance (I wear the bahag to stress the good governance that Leni Robredo stands for),” he said.
Labor rights proponent lawyer Sonny Matula, the last to join Robredo’s ticket, said he will be the defender of laborers in the Senate.
Among the issues he plans to raise are “ang kasiguruhan sa trabaho, ang pagwawakas ng endo, at pagtataas ng suweldo (security of tenure, end of contractualization , and increase in wages).”
Lawyer Dino de Leon, reelectionist Senator Leila de Lima’s representative, spoke for her while the senator’s standee was behind him.
De Lima, one of President Duterte’s staunchest critics, is currently detained at the Camp Crame for allegedly trumped-up drug charges by the current administration.
Despite her detention, the reelectionist senator is reportedly in high spirits as her team kicked off the campaign in her hometown.
Like Robredo, De Lima is a Bicolana, hailing from Iriga City in Camarines Sur.
In a statement, the senator said her being in detention will not prevent her from fighting for her advocacies. She also thanked supporters and volunteers who spent time fighting for her.
“Sa pangunguna ni VP Leni at Sen. Kiko, sa tulong po ng ating mga volunteers at bawat Pilipinong nagmamahal at nagmamalasakit sa kapwa at bansa, itutuloy at palalakasin pa natin ang laban para ibalik ang Hustisya at ipagtanggol ang Karapatang Pantao na pilit ipinagkakait ng kasalukuyang gobyerno (Under the leadership of VP Leni and Sen. Kiko, with the help of the volunteers and every Filipino who love and care for their fellowmen and the country, we will continue and strengthen our fight to return justice and fight for human rights that this current government is depriving us of),” De Lima said in a statement.
Akbayan’s reelectionist Senator Risa Hontiveros, who shared that her late husband, PLtCol. Frank Baraquel, was from Albay, highlighted her “Good Jobs Agenda” during the campaign kickoff.
“Tungkol sa pamilyang Pilipino ang kampanya namin para sa Healthy Buhay at Hanapbuhay ng lahat. Bigyan natin ang lahat ng Pilipino ng dignidad sa trabaho. Hindi na lang basta-basta ‘jobs.’ Dapat, good jobs (Our campaign is for the Filipino family for a healthy life and jobs for all. Let’s give all Filipinos a dignity in their jobs. Not only jobs. They should be Good Jobs),” she said.
Despite her having achieved many gains in her first term as a senator, Hontiveros added that she still has many issues to fight for, including making dignified livelihoods a “new normal.”