Vice President Leni Robredo’s youngest daughter, Jillian Robredo, was reportedly heckled during a market walk at the Baguio Public Market where she was campaigning for her mother, but the One Baguio-Benguet Robredo People’s Council (OBB-RPC) clarified that the said heckling was “unprovoked” contrary to claims from other camps.
The OBB-RPC is the volunteer arm group of the Robredo campaign.
Jillian is currently in the so-called “Solid North” region, visiting Ilocos Sur, La Union, and Baguio to campaign for her mother.
The heckling incident, wherein someone was heard shouting at Jillian that she was only a “dayuhan (tourist)” there, did not deter Robredo’s youngest daughter from her campaign.
“Gandang umaga. Tuloy-tuloy lang po ang H2H at palengke runs. Puso sa puso (Good morning Continuing with the H2H and market runs. Heart to heart ) Last 12 days. Focus tayo (Let’s focus ),” she wrote on Twitter.
She was with youth volunteers of Benguet at the University of Cordilleras on Wednesday, April 27, where she was warmly welcomed by the volunteers.
In her short speech, Jillian mentioned that many people are being victimized by spliced videos online.
She encouraged the youth volunteers to continue with the fight, to be patient with their campaigning, and to remain respectful to people.
The Vice President’s critics did not waste time in attacking Jillian on social media, alleging that the heckler wouldn’t have reacted that way if he was not provoked.
They hinted that Jillian might have been disrespectful to the market vendor, and that was why he reacted that way.
A longer version of the video saw Jillian simply taking a selfie when the vendor started shouting.
In the video, one of the organizers was also heard telling the volunteers to step to the side so as not to block the way.
The OBB-RPC denied the accusations against Jillian, who went home from the United States where she was taking a double degree in Economics and Mathematics at the New York University.
“Contrary to the comments on social media, the verbal attack was unprovoked, and the edited/spliced videos that show otherwise do not indicate what truly happened,” the group said in a statement.
“This unfortunate incident has put the people of Baguio, particularly the Igorots, in a bad light. It has given the impression that those who are not from the city are not welcome, when in fact Baguio is a tourist destination,” the group added.
“The people of Baguio, regardless of what language they speak, have always been known as warm and welcoming to visitors. This individual's unacceptable behavior should not be seen as the norm.”
It said that Jillian and the rest of the volunteers “did not engage anymore” and left the public market, but one of the vendors followed them to apologize.
“That apology speaks more of the residents of Baguio City than the actions of that individual who made the daughter of the Vice President unwelcome,” the statement added.
“Hopefully, incidents like this will not make us lose heart. Let us stand firm because we have an important goal ahead of us—to earn back a government and country that will include everyone,” the group said, adding that they will continue with their H2H campaign.