Presidential aspirant Vice President Leni Robredo ended the third week of the campaign period with a Guimaras sortie that drew an estimated crowd of 2,000 supporters at the San Miguel Provincial Capitol Gym in Jordan, Guimaras on Saturday, Feb. 26.
In addressing the crowd, the Vice President said that Guimaras knows it is a special place for her since it is the first place she visited after winning in 2016.
“Alam niyo po napaka-espesyal ng Guimaras para sa amin, siguro alam niyo naman 'yun. Pagkaupong-pagkaupo ko po bilang Vice President, ang inyong magandang lalawigan ay isa sa pinakauna kong binisita (You know Guimaras is very special to us, you probably know it. As soon as I became Vice President, your beautiful province was one of the first I visited),” Robredo told her supporters.
In Guimaras, she got 56,249 votes in the 2016 vice-presidential race while her closest rival former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. only got around 7,853 votes.
The aspiring president visited Sibunag with a partner organization, the Dasal Sibunag Vegetable Farmers Association, there.
One of the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) first projects was the provision of a motorized patrol boat and shredder for vegetable farmers, the photos of which were printed on tarpaulins that hung outside the gymnasium.
Robredo shared that she even planted coconut when she went there, and expressed hope that it is still alive because it is a symbol of her love for Guimaras.
While her second visit to Jordan was sadder because of the sea tragedy, Robredo said she had always meant to go back.
“Mabuti po ngayong umaga ay finally natuloy na 'yung pagbisita ko sa Guimaras. At bawat pagbisita ko– bawat pagbisita ko gandang-ganda po ako sa inyong lalawigan (It is good that my visit to Guimaras finally pushed through this morning. Every time I visit—your province becomes more beautiful to my eyes),” she added.
These changes are the best examples that everything improves when a government is honest.
“Nakita po natin 'yung leadership dito, nagkaka-isa, nagtutulungan. Ito po 'yung ating pinapangakong klase ng pamamahala (We saw the leadership here, united, helps each other. This is the kind of governance we are promising),” she said.
Robredo visited the province with some local officials, but she was without running mate Senator Kiko Pangilinan who had to fly back to Manila for the CNN vice-presidential debate.
Guimaras is the Vice President’s last stop this week after visiting the provinces of Lanao del Norte, Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon, Cebu, and Iloilo.
She also held grand rallies in Cebu on Feb. 24 and Iloilo on Feb. 25 just in time for the 36th anniversary of the EDSA People Power revolt.
READ: Kakampinks on a high: #IloiloIsPink still trends nationwide; 40,000 attend Robredo’s Iloilo rally
Robredo is set to go back to Manila to attend to CNN presidential debate on Sunday, Feb. 27, but not before she left a promise to the Guimaras people.
Should she win the presidency this coming May 2022, she said she will complete the Panay-Guimaras-Iloilo bridge, which is a portion of a bigger network of an inter-island bridge project that will improve the movement of goods in the Visayas.
“Pero sa rally sa Iloilo, sinabi ko po doon na pinapangako ko na pag ako po tinulungan ninyo, pag tayo binigyan ng pagkakataon, sisiguraduhin po natin na matutuloy na 'yung (During the rally in Iloilo, I said there that I promise that if you help me, if we are given a chance, I will make sure to continue the) Negros-Guimaras-Iloilo bridge,” she assured.
The lady official added that the bridge will be “life changing” for Guimaras.
The much-awaited bridge is a project of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in the Western Visayas that will connect Panay Island—Aklan, Antique, Capiz, and Iloilo to Guimaras and Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental.
The bridge was first proposed in 2017. Its construction was pushed to 2025 with a promised completion by 2030.