CABANATUAN CITY — Here in Nueva Ecija, a province where she lost by more than 300,000 votes against rival former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during the 2016 race, Vice President Leni Robredo’s ANEhan People’s Rally drew a massive crowd of 50,000 who had one battlecry on Tuesday, March 22: “Babawi kami (We’ll make it up)!”

In 2016, Robredo got 216,204 votes based on the Certificates of Canvass while Marcos received 541,980 votes.

But looking at the festive crowd of kakampinks here, the lone female presidential candidate admitted apprehension when she saw the proposal to hold the People’s Rally at the Old Provincial Capitol Oval in Cabanatuan City.

“Natakot ako. Ang sabi ko sa aming team hanap tayo ng mas maliit na lugar (I got scared. I told my team, let’s look for somewhere smaller),” she said.

“Pero ginulat nyo ako ngayong gabi. Lahat ng dinadaanan, nagugulat ako sa inyo. Naalala niyo noong 2016 elections? Ayan, promise nyo ba na babawi kayo (But you surprised me tonight. All that we pass through, I was shocked by you. Do you remember in the 2016 elections? There, promise that you will make it up)?,” Robredo asked.

The crowd chanted: “Babawi kami! Babawi kami (We will make it up! We will make it up)!”

“Pero ito naman, hindi niyo naman ako masisingil dahil kahit talo ako dito (But you can’t blame me because even if I lost here), over the past six years pabalik-balik ako dito sa inyo dahil marami po kaming programa na ginawa dito sa lalawigan niyo (I keep coming back here because we have many programs that we did here in your province),” Robredo said, as she noted her office’s programs for the farmers, health care workers, teachers, and students.

Today was a good day for her and her team, the Vice President added, because they saw a lot of unexpected things in their visit to Nueva Ecija.

Situated in Central Luzon, the province straddles the “Solid North,” which refers to Northern Luzon provinces said to be delivering solid votes to the Marcos family.

The local PNP and rescue team estimated the crowd attendance at 50,000 people during the Leni-Kiko rally. It is the same figure released by organizers to the media covering the event.

Earlier, Robredo visited San Jose City, San Antonio, San Leonardo, and Talavera before finally arriving in Cabanatuan City with running mate Sen. Kiko Pangilinan.

Despite the festive atmosphere, Robredo cannot help but took a swipe at her detractors who claimed that her supporters were paid to attend her rallies.

As before, she said those who attend her rallies were often “abonado,” which means they even had to spend their own money for these rallies that regularly drew tens of thousand of people.

But Robredo said more than spending their own money to attend the rallies, these are “investment for the future.”

Coincidentally, Nueva Ecija is known as the Onion Capital of the Philippines. Robredo’s critics claimed that the drone shots of her mammoth rallies were edited photos of red onions.

Her speech ended with fireworks as Rivermaya blasted “Liwanag Sa Dilim,” which has become her rally’s anthem.

Pop band Ben & Ben sang “Pagtingin,” “Kathang Isip,” and “Araw-Araw.” For the last song, they changed the line from “Mahiwaga” to “Pilipinas, pipiliin ka sa araw-araw (Philippines, you will be chosen every day).”

A same-day edit video of Robredo’s sortie in Nueva Ecija was also shown before the event closed.