CATANAUAN, Quezon—The mayor of this town in Quezon province, said to be the one that suffered most from human rights abuses during Martial Law, joined priests and lay leaders in endorsing Vice President Leni Robredo’s presidential bid.

Addressing the crowd that gathered in Brgy. Madulao, Catanauan for the “PASICATanauan: Multisectoral Assembly,” Mayor Ramon Orfanel told them that there are only 11 days until Election Day.

“Akin lang pong pakiusap sa inyo, sana po manindigan tayong mga taga Bondoc Peninsula, mga taga rito sa bayan ng Catanauan (My only plea to you, I hope you stand up as people from Bondoc Peninsula, from the town of Catanauan),” he said.

He reminded them of the horrors of the Martial Law regime, and advised them not to believe all surveys and social media reports that could be unreliable or fake.

“Sana po, huwag po kayong maniwala doon sa mga survey. Ang sinu-survey lang po noon ay 2,400 na tao samantalang tayo po ay 60 million na botante sa buong Pilipinas (Hopefully, don’t believe in those surveys. They only survey 2,300 people when we are 60 million voters in the whole Philippines),” Orfanel said.

“At lalong lalo po, huwag po kayong maniniwala doon sa Facebook account na nagsasabi na ang kasalanan ng ama ay hindi kasalanan ng anak. 'Yun po ay puwede kung 'yung anak po ay nagsisisi o nagtitika sa ginawa ng kanyang mga magulang (And especially don’t believe in the Facebook account that tells the sins of the father are not the sins of the son. That’s possible if the son repented and paid penance for the sins of the parents),” he added.

Robredo’s main rival and pre-election survey frontrunner, former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., is the son of the dictator who was ousted by the EDSA People Power uprising.

Citing the Commission on Human Rights, the local executive stressed how the town has suffered because of human rights violations.

Orfanel joined individual priests and lay people who also endorsed Robredo’s presidential bid.

“Ang simbahan po ng Diocese of Gumaca, sa pangunguna ng kaparian po, individual– individual ano namin, na disposition po matapos ang aming pagkikilatis (The church of the Dioceses of Gumaca, with the leadership of the priests, our individual—our individual disposition after our discernment), prayer through discernment– kami pong individual na mga pari ng Gumaca ay sumusuporta sa kandidatura po ni VP Leni (us individual priests of Gumaca support the candidacy of VP Leni),” a priest from Gumaca said.

The Vice President barnstormed Quezon province for the second time this campaign season.