Presidential aspirant Vice President Leni Robredo was unbothered by what her camp called “theatrics” among her three rivals, Manila Mayor Francisco 'Isko Moreno' Domagoso, Senator Panfilo Lacson, and former Defense secretary Norberto Gonzales on Easter Sunday, April 17.
Robredo instead tweeted photos of her lunch meeting with Sumilao farmers who arrived in her hometown of Naga City after they walked from Iriga.
The Sumilao farmers, whom Robredo helped when they marched to Malacañang in 2007 for their ancestral domain claims, continue their march across provinces in support of her presidential bid.
They were joined by Robredo’s daughters—Aika, Tricia, and Jillian—who all welcomed them.
“Dumating na ang Sumilao farmers sa Naga, kasama ang iba pang (The Sumilao farmers arrived in Naga, along with other) farmers' organizations. Pagkatapos namin mag attend ng Easter Mass, nananghalian kami ng mga bata kasama sila (After attending the Easter Mass, I and my children had lunch with them),” the Vice President said in a Twitter post.
“Lubos ang pasasalamat namin sa sakripisyo at paglaban nila para sa tama sa gitna ng maraming kahirapan (We are very thankful to their sacrifices and fight for what is right amidst the many difficulties),” she added.
Robredo joined the Sumilao farmers for lunch while her three rival presidential candidates held a joint presser targeting her on Sunday.
READ: Robredo sisters, allies respond to rivals’ Easter attacks on VP Leni
Lacson, Moreno, and Gonzales announced that they are not withdrawing from the race and also criticized Robredo for supposedly asking them to withdraw.
Lacson and Gonzales even alleged that they were offered money in exchange to withdrawing and campaigning for Robredo.
Moreno, for his part, asked the Vice President, a perennial second-placer to former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in presidential preference surveys, to back out from the race.
In a reply to a Facebook user, Robredo asked her supporters to “chill” after the joint presser attacking her.
Facebook user Ruru Barrios asked the Vice President in one of her posts, “VP, magkano po nawithdraw nyo today sa ATM (how much did you withdraw from ATM)?”
The commenter was, perhaps, referring to Moreno’s statement asking Robredo to withdraw from the presidential race despite her survey ratings being ahead of the Manila mayor.
READ: Mayor Isko asks VP Leni to withdraw from presidential race and instead — 'come and join us'
“Chill lang. Mahaba pa pila. Choz (Let’s chill. The line is long. Joke),” Robredo answered with a confused emoji.
Robredo’s spokesman Barry Gutierrez has already denied that their camp made attempts to ask any presidential candidate to withdraw.