ANTIPOLO CITY — Netizens might have come across this inside joke among kakampinks on social media: that Vice President Leni Robredo is a virtual rain stopper.

A mammoth crowd of Robredo supporters gathered at the Rizal Capitol Grounds in Antipolo, Rizal on Tuesday, April 5, for the “LeniWanag ang Silangan: A Leni-Kiko Grand People’s Rally” despite heavy rains that soaked them from morning to afternoon.

But as with her rallies in General Santos, Bohol, Zamboanga City, and Tarlac, the rain stopped before Robredo took the stage to deliver her speech.

The Vice President herself understands the sacrifice that her kakampinks make for her.

“Alam ko marami sa inyo kaninang kanina pa andito. At sa kalakasan ng ulan talagang hindi nagpatinag. Talaga pong nakakataba ng puso na handa kayong magsakripisyo (I know that many of you have been here for hours. And despite the heavy rain, that didn’t stop you. It’s really heartwarming that you are willing to sacrifice),” she said, adding that she asked earlier if the organizers would like to move the rally to another date.

But the organizers told her that, “Ang Rizal (Rizal is), rain or shine.”

Apologizing for needing to stand in the rain for hours, Robredo shared that on her way to the stage while shaking hands with people, she noticed how wet and cold their hands were.

Her supporters jokingly chanted, “Hindi kami basa (We are not wet),” to which the Vice President laughingly replied, “Fake news yan (That’s fake news).”

But she did notice one thing.

“Kahit mga basang sisiw, masaya pa rin (Even if you look like wet chicks, it’s still fun),” she said.

This is not the first time that the rain suddenly stopped a few minutes before Robredo was scheduled to deliver her message.

It happened most famously in General Santos City and in Zamboanga City, where a butterfly circled around her for a few seconds.

Robredo talked about her relationship with Rizal despite losing here in 2016.

“Pero hindi na po importante ‘yun. Kaya ko lang po sinabi na hindi ako nanalo kasi gusto ko ipakita sa inyo na kahit hindi ako nanalo sa Rizal, binuhusan po namin ng proyekto (But that’s not important. The only reason I said that I didn’t win here is because I want to show that even though I didn’t win in Rizal, we poured projects here),” she said.

The Vice President mentioned her office’s numerous livelihood projects with the sewing communities in the province. These same sewing communities were the ones she tapped to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) to medical frontliners at the height of the pandemic.

Robredo wasn’t the only one who kept coming back to Rizal.

Her running mate, Sen. Kiko Pangilinan, has good memories of the province that he wants to reminisce from time to time.

Aside from growing up in Rizal, the senator also met eventual wife, megastar Sharon Cuneta, in San Mateo.

“Isa pang mahalaga tungkol sa Rizal para sa akin na malapit sa aking puso, dito sa Brgy. Malanday, San Mateo, una kong nasilayan si Sharon (Another important thing about Rizal for me, close to my heart, here in Brgy. Malanday, San Mateo, I first saw Sharon),” he told the crowd.

The Robredo-Pangilinan tandem went around Rizal province, which has 1.6 million registered voters this May 2022.

They met with Antipolo Bishop Francisco De Leon and other priests at the Regina Pacis Center of the Diocese of Antipolo and held a mini rally amidst the rain at Tanay Park in Tabing.

She and Pangilinan then signed a covenant with 1Sambubungan, an indigenous people’s group that sought recognition of their rights and ancestral domain, before joining the grand rally in Antipolo.