Senator Franklin Drilon, a stalwart of the once-ruling Liberal Party (LP) that presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo still chairs to this day, believes that more local officials will be joining her “pink movement” in the coming days because of the surge in her March survey numbers.

Robredo, who is running as an independent candidate to show willingness to work with other parties, had a nine-point increase in her March rating—from 15 percent in February to 24 percent in March—according to the latest Pulse Asia survey results.

The increase in her survey numbers is “backed up” by actual people on the ground, Drilon said, noting how her rallies have drawn thousands of supporters.

“I think more local officials will heed what their conscience and constituents are telling them, and that is to get behind a candidate who walks the talk and is the most principled among those who are running,” the veteran senator claimed.

“They will do this with no quid pro quo,” he added, stressing the need for these local officials to be in the “good graces of voters” and “on the right side of history.”

“And that is priceless,” Drilon said.

He believes that the “Pink Movement” is snowballing and elected officials “can feel the tides turning” with the release of the new Pulse Asia survey.

READ: Robredo’s gains in Pulse Asia survey shows ‘turning of tide’ in her bid —spox

Drilon explained that the “pivot” of hundreds of influential local officials in the regions to Robredo and her running mate Sen. Kiko Pangilinan was and will be “voluntary on their part,” denying allegations that their camp paid off local officials to shift their allegiance.

The senator called these allegations “troll-manufactured fake news.”

His colleague in the Senate, Senator Panfilo Lacson, was one of those who hinted that the Robredo camp paid former House Speaker and Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez and his Partido Reforma to shift its allegiance from him to the Vice President.

The “mutual meeting of the minds was not a product of the traditional political transaction,” he said, noting that the Robredo campaign is volunteer-driven and is not the one that sits “on a mountain of gold.”

“No exchange deal, only the promise that a Robredo presidency will fight for the people and give our children a better future,” the senator added.