Days before the 2022 elections, Filipino students, alumni, and researchers from universities in the United Kingdom declared their support for the candidacies of Vice President Leni Robredo and Senator Kiko Pangilinan in the upcoming May 9 polls.
Over 250 Filipino scholars from over 60 universities across the UK including the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, London School of Economics and Political Science, University College London, Imperial College London, King's College London, Queen Mary University London, and the University of Edinburgh were among the signatories of the statement of support.
Based on their statement, the Filipino scholars endorsed the tandem because the country needs leaders who “recognize the challenges of the future, and who will respond by strengthening our education, research, and development, to enable our country to respond swiftly and successfully to future crises.”
According to the scholars, the past six years have left the country “rudderless, with a flailing economy and crippling debt.”
Given this, the scholars said: “We are convinced that this is the kind of government that Leni and Kiko will lead. Both VP Leni and Senator Kiko have shown their strength of character and leadership.”
Why Leni and Kiko?
The scholars support Robredo's candidacy for president because her “lifelong work has demonstrated that her heart is with the Filipinos who struggle the most.:
On the other hand, Pangilinan has “shown his lifelong commitment to the welfare of our farmers and fisherfolk.”
“Both of them have a stellar record of service to the Filipino people,” the scholars said.
Sharmila Pramanand, a postdoctoral fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said that the tandem has a “proven history of resisting oligarchic politics and listening to the needs of Filipinos, especially those who are rarely heard.”
“They have high standards of integrity, having shared data on the state of their personal wealth and the projects and programs of their offices, and respecting the Filipino people by participating in debates and engaging with critics,” Pramanand added.
Michael Pastor, an MPhil student in Multidisciplinary Gender Studies at the University of Cambridge and concurrently Assistant Professorial Lecturer at De La Salle College of St. Benilde added that as a Filipino gay man and gender specialist, “I strongly believe that Leni and Kiko are champions of gender equality.”
He added that the tandem’s brand of leadership can make the “clamour of the LGBTQIA+ community for respect, acceptance, and non-discrimination a reality in the Philippines.”
Pastor furthered that the kind of country that the tandem promises is the “same one we aspire to and seek to work towards: a country of good governance, a country that is pro-poor and pro-people.”
Meanwhile, lawyer Raphael Pangalangan, a fellow at CenterLaw-Philippines, who previously completed his M.St. in Human Rights at the University of Oxford and his LL.M. at the University of Cambridge, explained that while electoral processes are “usually about future direction” yet this election is “equally about the past.”
“When we cast our vote this 9th May we will be given the chance to not only make history but to preserve it,” Pangalangan said. “A vote for Leni is a vote for truth, for hope, for justice,” he added.