NAGA CITY, Camarines Sur — Kicking off her campaign for the presidency, Vice President Leni Robredo chose to go back to her roots—back to her hometown of Naga City, the streets, trees, and buildings of which are bathed in the glow of her campaign color, pink.

In Plaza Quezon, named in honor of the great President Manuel L. Quezon and the site of festivities for Naga’s patron saint, Our Lady of Penafrancia, Bicolanos clad in pink shirts, waved pink flags and pink balloons as they wait for Robredo to take the stage.

The plaza is surrounded by posters of Robredo, her running mate, Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, and their senatorial bets.

Seven out of the 12 Senate hopefuls from the Leni-Kiko ticket attended the proclamation rally.

They were book author Alex Lacson, labor leader Sonny Matula, former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, former Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat Jr., human rights lawyer Chel Diokno, reelectionist Senators Richard Gordon and Risa Hontiveros. Sen. Leila De Lima was represented by her spokesman Dino de Leon.

And after a performance of The Company and Agot Isidro and video messages from celebrities such as Gary Valenciano, Pangilinan’s brother-in-law; Iza Calzado, Jolina Magdangal, and megastar Sharon Cuneta, Robredo went on stage with her now-trademark pink shirt and mask to greet a crowd that adores her.

She spoke, at first, in Bikolano before switching to Tagalog to share her story, one that many of her supporters know by heart and one which people not yet sold on her bid should know: that she was born and raised in Naga City, and that it was also in her home town where she met the love of her life, the late former Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo.

“​Dito ko sa Naga nakilala si Jesse. Dito namin binuo ang aming pamilya. Higit sa lahat, dito ko sa Naga nakita na ang luma at bulok na klase ng pulitika, kayang talunin ng matino, mahusay, masipag, at makataong pamamahala (It is here in Naga that I met Jesse. It is here that we built our family. Most of all, it is here in Naga that I saw that the old and rotten kind of politics can be beaten by an excellent, capable, hardworking, and humane government),” she told the crowd.

It was, after all, Jesse who started the participatory and consultative leadership and governance that Robredo is going to push for if she wins in May 2022. And it was, unfortunately, his death in 2012 that catapulted her to seek public office, winning against the Villafuertes as congresswoman in 2013 and against former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in 2016.

“Dito, nagtiwala ang tao sa lider na nakikiisa sa kanya: Nakikipila, nakikiramay sa sapalaran, namumuhay nang simple gaya niya. Dito, may tinig ang karaniwang mamamayan, hindi lang tuwing halalan, kundi sa mismong sistema ng pamahalaan (Here, the people believed in a leader who unites with him: Stands in line, sympathetic in their journey, lives simply like them. Here, the ordinary citizen has a voice not only during elections, but in the system of government),” she said.

The aspiring president credited Naga for showing her that the participation of ordinary citizens is possible in a government that listens.

“Susuotan natin ng tsinelas ang gobyerno at patatawirin sa mga pilapil papunta sa iyo. Sa ating pamamahala, laylayan ang magiging bagong sentro (We will put slippers on the government and we will make it cross farmlands to get to you. In our governance, the grassroots are going to be the new center),” Robredo stressed.

Tsinelas leadership refers to the rural grassroots and poverty alleviation program that Jesse started in Naga, where he was local executive for six terms before being appointed as interior secretary by the late President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

The Vice President promised to do the same—to govern with the people in the grassroots in mind.

“Pinanday na natin ang plano, matagal nang isinasabuhay ang prinsipyo, at matagal na ring napatunayan ang angat-buhay na dala nito. Handa tayong humarap kahit kanino (We crafted the plan, we have long practiced the principles, and we have long proved the better life that this brings. We are ready to face anyone),” she said.

And as the crowd chants “Leni! Leni! Leni!,” Robredo warned them of the long road ahead: “Habang tumitingkad ang katotohanang handa tayong baklasin ang sistemang matagal nang pinagsasamantalahan ng luma at bulok na klase ng politika—asahan na rin nating titindi pa ang laban (While the truth gains ground that we are ready to dismantle the system that has long abused the old and rotten kind of politics—let’s expect that the fight will be harder).”

“​Hindi ako natatakot. Hindi ako kinakabahan (I am not afraid. I am not nervous),” Robredo added.

Confident of the conviction that has guided her relatively short political career, the presidential aspirant insisted that she relies on “pag-asa, pakikiisa, pagkakaisa (hope, solidarity, and unity).”

“Dito tayo tumataya. Dito tayo tumitindig. Ihanda na ang mga bisig, dahil tinitiyak ko: Walang kayang tumumbas sa pinagbigkis nating lakas. ​Tara, ipanalo na natin ito (We are betting on this. We are standing up for this. Ready your arms because I am sure: Nothing can equal our bonded strength. Let’s go. Let’s win this),” she said.