PADRE GARCIA, Batangas—Presidential aspirant Leni Robredo on Thursday, Feb. 10, said their camp has a ‘problem’ with controlling the crowd in their campaign sorties as local officials told her they’ve been asking supporters not to attend the events anymore to comply with COVID-19 health and safety protocols.

The Vice President said during the meet-and-greet with volunteers here that local officials have been concerned about physical distancing measures whenever she’s scheduled to come.

“Pero ngayon po lahat ng lugar na puntahan namin, parating sinasabi sa amin ng local officials, ‘Ito ‘yung pagtitipon na hindi kami nahirapan mag-aya ng tao, in fact ang pinoproblema pa namin kung papaano namin kumbinsihin ‘yung iba na huwag na pumunta dahil sa physical distancing’ (But now, all the places we go to, the local officials tell us, ‘This is a gathering where we didn’t have difficulty inviting people, in fact our problem is how to convince others not to go anymore because of physical distancing’),” she added.

This only means one thing to Robredo: that the Filipino people know they need to do something to change the way politics and government are run in the country.

The presidential candidate warned that during elections, candidates will woo voters and tell them what they need to hear.

“Sana ‘yung 88 days na ito, huwag sana tayong mapagod. Huwag po sana tayong mawalan ng pag-asa (I hope that these next 88 days, we don’t get tired. Let’s not lose hope),” Robredo, who placed a far second behind former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., said.

In 2016, Robredo won in Batangas, something that she’s still thankful for. Records showed that the Vice President got 513,587 votes while Marcos got 260,895.

“Malaki po ‘yung pasasalamat ko pero hindi po ako ganoon nagsimula (I am very thankful but that’s not how I started),” she recalled.

Robredo started at one percent in vice presidential surveys in 2016 but ended up in the 30-point mark as Election Day neared.

“Nakakagulat po ngayon, gumagastos ang volunteers, nahihiya nga ako. Kasi hindi po ito ‘yung tradisyonal na practice, di ba (It is surprising right now because the volunteers themselves are spending, I feel shy. Because this is not the traditional practice, right)?,” she asked.

Robredo and her running mate, Senator Kiko Pangilinan, were at the Padre Garcia Cultural Center in Padre Garcia, Batangas to meet with volunteers from the 4th District of the province.

They proceeded then to the Balayan Government Center in Balayan, Batangas to meet with Batangas D1 Leni-Kiko Volunteers. In the afternoon, the team is expected to arrive in Lipa, Batangas to meet with Lipa Youth for Leni and Batangas D6 Leni-Kiko Volunteers.