Former vice president Leni Robredo was back on Wednesday, March 19, in Negros Occidental, one of the few provinces that gave her a wide margin of votes in the 2022 presidential elections, to once more woo Negrenses to vote and volunteer though this time, it’s for former senators Kiko Pangilinan and Bam Aquino.

Former vice president Leni Robredo raises the hands of Bam Aquino and Anthony Pangilinan, who represented his brother, Kiko Pangilinan, during a campaign rally in Bacolod City on Wednesday night, March 19, 2025. (Bam Aquino Media Bureau)

In March 2022, some 70,000 kakampinks rallied for Robredo and Pangilinan, then a vice presidential candidate. Behind that “pink rally,” which was one of the biggest crowds in the campaign trail, was Aquino, who stood as the Team Robredo-Pangilinan’s (TROPA) campaign manager.
 

“Nanalo tayo dito sa Negros Occidental sa gitna ng napakaraming pagsubok, ‘yung boses ninyo yung nanaig (We won here in Negros Occidental in the midst of so many adversities, your voices won),” she said, sharing that she had 45,000 more votes than President Marcos in the province.
 

“At dapat hindi natin sayangin ‘yung nasimulan natin three years ago. Kasi pinakita natin na ‘yung boses natin malakas, na kahit maraming kahirapan basta para sa bayan, lalo tayong naglalakas loob pa dahil alam natin ang pinaglalaban natin hindi lang kandidato natin kundi ‘yung minamahal nating Pilipinas (We shouldn’t waste what we started three years ago. Because we showed that when we raise our voices, even amid the challenges, if it’s for the country, we gather our strength because we are not just fighting for our candidates, but for our beloved Philippines),” Robredo added.
 

The coming May 2025 midterm polls present another tall challenge, the former vice president said.
 

“May dalawa tayong kandidato sa Senado na napakahusay, napakabuti… Ang pinaglalaban natin ngayon na itong dalawang matino at mahusay na kandidato natin, maibalik natin sila sa Senado (Our two candidates for the senate are both excellent and decent… We are fighting to have these two excellent and decent candidates back in the Senate),” she stressed.
 

Why Kiko and Bam
 

She recounted that both Pangilinan and Aquino were ready to file their candidacies for the Senate in 2022 when she asked the former to run alongside her as vice president and for the latter to be their campaign manager.
 

She shared how impossible it would have been to do all that in 2022 without both Pangilinan and Aquino.
 

“Ang dalawang ito handa laging mag-sakripisyo para sa bayan. Dapat tayo rin. Kaya ‘yung hihingin namin sa inyo ngayon hindi lang iboto si Kiko at Bam kung hindi yung sigasig nyo para sa amin nung 2022, doblehin triplehin pa natin ngayon (These two are always ready to sacrifice for the country. We should, too. We are asking not just to vote for Kiko and Bam but the passion you had for us in 2022, let’s double and triple that now),” Robredo rallied their supporters.

Independent senatorial candidate Bam Aquino speaks before the crowd during the Bacolod campaign rally. (Photo from Bam Aquino Media Bureau)

The former vice president said it was a “huge sacrifice” for Pangilinan to forego his Senate run in 2022, but his excellence and decency were the reasons why she chose him as vice president.
 

“Hindi nabahiran ng kahit anong kasamaan ‘yung kanyang pangalan kahit napakatagal na panahon naninilbihan. Kilala nyo naman si Kiko di ba? Napakasimpleng tao. Wala man lang arte sa katawan (His name remains untarnished despite having served for a long time. You know Kiko, right? He’s a very simple person. He is unpretentious),” she described him.
 

Pangilinan was unable to attend the rally in Negros Occidental because of a prior schedule in Bohol province. He was represented by his brother, Anthony, father of actor Donny Pangilinan.
 

She called Aquino a “simple” person, too, reminding the audience that he remains humble despite his academic accolades—college batch valedictorian and summa cum laude of BS Management Engineering at the Ateneo de Manila University.
 

“Tingnan nyo napakasimple din. Hindi pinagmamalaki ang kahusayan… Alam ko mahusay at aligned ang aming paniniwala (He’s very simple, too. He doesn’t brag about his accomplishments… I know he’s good and our beliefs are aligned),” she said of Aquino, whom she picked as her campaign manager in 2016 and 2022.
 

Running under the advocacy of free college education and guaranteed employment, some students went on stage after Aquino delivered his speech to give testimonies on how his Free College Law sent them to school. 
 

Robredo, who will soon need to campaign for herself as mayor of Naga City but promised to join Pangilinan and Aquino as much as her schedule allows her to, turned to their supporters to give them an “assignment”—to campaign for the duo and bring Senator Risa Hontiveros two more allies to the Senate.
 

“Hindi tayo lugi dito sa dalawang ito. Nakita natin ‘yung kanilang records sa Senado. Hindi natin ikahihiya, hindi sayang ‘yung boto (We are not at a disadvantage with these two. We saw their records in the Senate. We will not get embarrassed, our votes will not go to waste),” she said.
 

“Na-i-imagine nyo ba magkakasama sa Senado (Can you imagine them together in the Senate)?,” the former vice president asked, referring to Hontiveros, Pangilinan, and Aquino. “Di ba napakaganda? Pag ganun, masasabi natin may aasahan tayo sa bansa natin (Isn’t that wonderful? When that happens, we can hope for our country).”
 

Campaigns for ML Partylist
 

Robredo likewise campaigned for Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Partylist, whose first nominee is former senator Leila de Lima, a fellow Bicolana.
 

ML Partylist's first nominee Leila de Lima joins "Negros para kay Kiko kag Bam" People's Campaign Rally in Bacolod City. (Photo courtesy of ML Partylist)

“Isa pang pakiusap, ML partylist number six (One more favor, [vote for] ML Partylist number six),” she said.
 

The former official remembered visiting De Lima several times when she was detained for nearly seven years, and how she never complained despite her situation.
 

“Ngayon nakikita natin, bumangon muli, nakikipaglaban muli para sa bayan (Now we can see her, she rose up, she’s fighting again for the country),” she said.
 

Both Pangilinan and Aquino are trailing the Magic 12 in pre-election surveys, while ML Partylist has yet to breach the winning circle for partylist seats.