The 22 fishermen, whose boat was rammed by a Chinese fishing vessel in the West Philippine Sea in 2019, issued a manifesto of support for the presidential bid of Vice President Leni Robredo.
The crew also said that they will support Robredo’s vice-presidential running mate Sen. Kiko Pangilinan.
Robredo and Pangilinan visited the 22 fishermen during their campaign sortie in San Jose, Mindoro Occidental on Wednesday, April 6, to hold a dialogue with them.
Similar to her past community visits, the Vice President was seen wearing a pair of slippers, which has become a symbol of her people-centered and grassroots-oriented brand of leadership.
In June 2019, a Chinese vessel rammed the 14-ton fishing boat FB Gem-Ver 1 in Recto Bank and left 22 fishermen in the sea.
It wasn’t until a Vietnamese vessel passed through the same waters that the fishermen were rescued.
Robredo was one of the first to visit the crew, awarding them with P50,000 each.
READ: Robredo meets with FB Gem-Ver 1 crew, extends assistance from ‘Angat Buhay’
She visited them months after and under her flagship anti-poverty program Angat Buhay awarded them 12 units of global positioning system (GPS) and fish-finding equipment from its partner company Marnav Marine Electronics.