Vice President Leni Robredo once more impressed netizens with her concrete, detailed, and data-backed plans for the Philippines should she win as president in the upcoming May polls.
During the first round of the presidential debate organized by the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec), the lone female presidential candidate answered issues about economic recovery, the possibility of another Covid-19 surge, what she learned about the country during her campaign, infrastructure plans, the proposed four-day work week, and fighting against disinformation.
Netizens, celebrities, and allies such as Senator Risa Hontiveros and former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV lauded Robredo’s responses to the topics.
“It is all about the resibo talaga (really) - literally and figuratively," tweeted actor Richard Juan.
“VP Leni knows that a science-based approach is the best strategy to combat any imminent Covid surge. Romp off the vaccination rates in the Philippines. The 1-2-3 Punch- Testing, Tracing and Treatment. More access to testing; improved tracing and hospital capacity,” added DeusXMachina (@DeusXMachina14).
"When Leni Robredo opened her answer with the line, ‘Ayon sa datos (According to data)...‘ YES VEBS BACKED BY RESEARCH AND DATA ‘YAN HINDI HULA LANG (not a guess). KEEP THEM COMING, MADAM!" wrote vane (@vaneillaxxx).
“Malinaw ang pagkaunawa ni VP @lenirobredo sa unang tanong. Kaya (VP @lenirobredo understands the first question clearly. That’s why) straight to the point ang sagot. Maliwanag na handa rin ang kanyang panukalang solusyon sa problema ng unang sektor na kanyang pagtutuonan ng atensyon kung maging pangulo. Tulong sa MSME ang focus (her answers are straight to the point. It is clear that her proposed solutions to the problem of the first sector that she will give her attention to if she becomes president are ready. The focus is to help MSME),” posted dzRH executive Cesar Chavez.
He was referring to Robredo’s response about what sector she will prioritize helping if she wins as president.
READ: Robredo pitches data-driven key policies in Comelec debate
She said it would be the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) because it was the hardest hit by the pandemic. She cited her plan to make sure that the stimulus package and low-interest loans for MSMEs will capacitate businesses to transition to digitization.
Her closing statement about the need for “true leaders to show up and man up” drew praises from netizens as well. Though she did not mention names when she said not to look for someone who does not want to face the people, many netizens concluded she was referring to former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who was a no-show at the debate.
Even former Supreme Court spokesperson Ted Te reacted: “‘True leaders show up and man up.’ Ouch.”
"A true leader shows up," tweeted Dr. Gia Sison.
“Grabe that last statement from VP Leni Robredo. That was not just powerful but too much hope. Hope for the country & for everyone. The best and the last man standing this 2022 elections, is still a woman. Abante babae (Forward, women)!,” said Mark Geronimo (@markgeronimo_)
READ: Robredo: ‘The best man for the job is a woman’
Trillanes, who is running under her ticket, also went on Twitter to praise the Vice President’s performance.
“Congrats, Madame President @lenirobredo, for another impressive performance,” tweeted Trillanes while reposting a photo tweet by former Senator Bam Aquino, Robredo’s campaign manager.
The haghtag #KayLeniNaTayo became the number two trending topic in the country on Sunday with more than 161,000 tweets. On Saturday night, it was also the number two trending topic worldwide.
Hontiveros, who was the guest of Robredo’s radio show over dzXL on Sunday, March 20, also said that Robredo is not just all-talk. Rather, she has showed in her track record that she can do the plans she had laid out.
“At punong puno siya ng mga resibo para sabihin iyan at kanya rin ang plataporma na habang ina-unveil niya sa ating publiko ay talagang napapatunayan may konkretong plano, may puso, at may paninindigan para ihahon talaga ang ating lipunan mula sa pandemya, mula sa recession at mula din sa iba’t iba pa nating mga hamon sa ating demokrasya (And she is filled with receipts to say that and her platform while unveiling to the public she has really proved she has concrete plans, heart, and conviction to uplift our society from the pandemic, from the recession, and from the different challenges to our democracy),” the senator added.