Presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo and her running mate, Sen. Kiko Pangilinan, finally completed the mural on a privately-owned wall in Brgy. Ipil in Echague, Isabela that was earlier defaced by uniformed personnel pursuant to the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) “Operation Baklas” campaign.
Robredo and Pangilinan made a quick stop on their way to their grand rally in Isabela on Saturday, March 12, where 10,000 supporters were in attendance, to paint the last rose petals on the mural.
After the defacing of the original artwork by Youth for Leni-Isabela on Feb. 13, the volunteers repainted the wall in pink but this was again vandalized.
The artists repainted the mural on Friday, March 11, with the intention of leaving the last pink rose for Robredo and Pangilinan to draw and paint.
The Vice President thanked the volunteers in Echague for their sacrifice.
“Pero kahit po dumaan kayo sa sakripisyo at kahirapan, pinakita niyo po sa amin, binigyan niyo kami ng inspirasyon, pinaalala niyo po sa amin na dahil desidido kayo at naiintindihan niyo kung gaano ka-importante ang eleksyon na ito, kahit mahirap, lalaban (But even though you went through sacrifices and hardship, you showed us, you gave us inspiration, you reminded us that because you are decided and you understand how important this election is, even though it is hard, you’ll fight),” she said.
She also tweeted about the mural, saying “Our shared story of resilience, borne out of love—anuman ang balakid, sige lang, lalaban lang (whatever the roadblocks are, let’s go on, fight on).”
Sybil Daguro, a dentistry student and member of the Echague Youth for Leni, and one of the painters of the mural, said they were honored that Robredo and Pangilinan took time to visit them.
She also expressed sadness and anger.
“Nakakagalit, nakakalungkot. Bakit masakit po? Kasi (It makes us angry and sad. Why is it painful? Because) I’m a first-time voter po ngayon (now) and I will give my first ever vote for President kay (to) VP Leni. Madami pong youth ang tumulong before, kaya sobrang nasaktan po ako para sa ‘ming lahat and sa mga may edad po na sumusuporta sa amin (There were a lot of youth who helped before, that’s why I feel pain for all of us and to the adults who support us) until now,” Daguro said.
The wall is owned by Evelyn Afiado Flor, who was seen on video reasoning with authorities to let the mural be. But the authorities told her they have to paint over the artwork.
Repainting the mural was not easy because Isabela is at the heart of Northern Luzon and its famed “Solid North” votes. The volunteers said motorists would usually roll down their windows to shout former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s name or flash his peace sign to them.
“We have to make a lot of sacrifices in terms of resources, in terms of people bullying. Binu-bully nila kami eh at tsaka ‘yung iba pinagtatawanan kami (They are bullying us and others are laughing at us). We are a motley group daw, and ‘Your candidate will not win in Isabela’, sabi nila (they said). And we are out to prove na with our meager resources and with the help of these youth volunteers, we will be able to have more voters for Leni and Kiko,” Flor said.
Flor said their campaign posters would be slashed or taken down, but she and the other volunteers would put them up again that it has become a cycle.
“Gusto lang naming tumulong sa kanilang dalawa. Lagi naming ipinagdadasal na manalo silang lahat (We just want to help both of them. We always pray for all of them to win),” she said.
Flor also belied the “Solid North,” a term that refers to the strong electoral support of northern Philippine provinces, particularly those of Ilocandia, to the family of the late President Ferdinand Marcos.
READ: Crack in 'Solid North'? 10,000 crowd stands for Team Leni-Kiko in Cagayan, Isabela
“Solid North is a wrong notion just because marami dito Ilokano (there are a lot of Ilokanos here), they came from the Ilocos region. The youth has been enlightened. The youth has come out and maski sinasabi ng matatanda nila na ‘BBM’, naiintindihan na nila kung ano ‘yung nangyayaring mali sa gobyerno natin at gusto nila magkaroon din ng pagbabago (even though the elderly are telling them BBM, they understand the wrongs happening in our government and they want change),” she said.
In an earlier statement, Pangilinan said Comelec’s and the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) “Oplan Baklas” was illegal and these two agencies don’t have any authority if done on private properties.
But the Comelec has since stopped removing campaign materials posted on private property after the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order on “Oplan Baklas.”