BORONGAN CITY—Vice President Leni Robredo has seen her Samar province campaign sortie rich with endorsements.
After 21 Northern Samar local executives endorsed her presidential bid, 20 Eastern Samar mayors, led by Gov. Ben Evardone, an ally of President Duterte, signed a covenant here to pledge support for the Vice President.
“Whereas; The eventual Presidency of Her Excellency Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni" Gerona Robredo is the answer to the dream of Estehanons to graduate from the top twenty (20) poorest provinces and maximize the potentials of the province to achieve genuine development,” the covenant read.
The signatories committed to “support wholeheartedly” Robredo’s presidential bid and promised to “mobilize every sector of the society to fully support the Candidacy of Her Excellency Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo and will work hard to translate their support into real votes” and guard her votes.
Evardone’s name was also in the covenant, as well as Eastern Samar Rep. Maria Fe Abunda, sister of TV host Boy Abunda, who was seated beside Robredo and has also committed to support her presidential bid.
In the covenant, Robredo is committed to fulfill the aspirations of Eastern Samareños and prioritize the development of the province.
“The province loves you so much,” Evardone told Robredo in the provincial capitol gym here before signing the covenant.
“Alam namin hindi nyo kami kakalimutan. Wala pa kayo sa Malacañang, mahal nyo na ang Eastern Samar (We know you will not forget us. You aren’t in Malacañang yet but you already love Eastern Samar),” Evardone said.
READ: Robredo says Eastern Samar Gov. Evardone’s endorsement is 'valued'
The covenant also recognized Robredo as the “first Vice President of the Republic of the Philippines who visited the hinterlands of the Province of Eastern Samar showing her empathy to the far-flung areas an witnessed the desolation of the poor living conditions of the people.”
“Bihira siyang bisitahin ng mga (It is seldom visited by) national government officials... Bihira din natutulungan... Dapat bumababa talaga sa pinakamalalayo para nakikita talaga kung ano yung problema (It is seldom helped... Should go down really to the far-flung to see what really is the problem),” Robredo said.
Her love affair with Eastern Samar started even before she became Vice President because of her advocacy programs.
If she wins the presidency, she promised to focus on providing services to Eastern Samar, such as climate change-resistant infrastructure, mobile phone signal, and electricity.
“Hindi lang namin ipagpapatuloy ‘yung lahat ng social development programs sa pinakamalalayong lugar, pero lalo pa po nating paiigtingin (We are not just going to continue all social development programs in far-flung areas, but we will strengthen it more),” Robredo said.
She praised the local officials for turning Borongan into a progressive city.
Robredo won in Eastern Samar in the 2016 vice-presidential race, beating the former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. with 94,061 votes against his 54,985 votes.
For the 2022 elections, there are 347,616 registered voters in Eastern Samar.