Photo from VP Leni Robredo Facebook Page
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines — Vice President Leonor ‘Leni’ Robredo lauded her thousands of supporters who appeared at her presidential campaign rally in Cagayan de Oro’s Divisoria area Tuesday, February 22.
Robredo, who’s gunning for the country’s presidency in the May 9 elections, said it is the people who volunteered their time and resources despite limitations that makes her campaign different from other candidates who have well-oiled campaign machinery.
“This fight is difficult because we lack in so many things. We don’t have the resources nor the machinery. But do they have what we have?” Robredo asked the crowd as her voice was drowned out by screams from supporters.
“We have people like you whose believe in us and who did not demand payment, but have spent from their own pockets for the printing of tarpaulins and t-shirts. Even our headquarters are lent to us by our supporters,” she added.
The crowd that attended Robredo’s rally numbered to around 10,000, consisting mostly of students and young professionals, said Divisoria Police Station Commander Maj. Sebastian Chua.
Campaign volunteers set up ‘lugaw’ or porridge stations at the Divisoria area in Cagayan de Oro during the rally of presidential candidate and Vice President Leni Robredo on Tuesday night February 22. Robredo also stopped sorties in Iligan and Gingoog. (Jigger Jerusalem/davaotoday.com)
The presidential candidate also emphasized the need for students to have access to quality education and not just through the state-funded scholarship.
“I want to assure our students that if you have scholarship, but you find it difficult to cope with poverty, decent living or everyday expenses, the government will help you because it knows how to spend the money for the people,” Robredo said.
The presidential candidate addressed the youth by emphasizing the need for students to have access to quality education and not just through the state-funded scholarship.
“I want to assure our students that if you have scholarship, but you find it difficult to cope with poverty, decent living or everyday expenses, the government will help you because it knows how to spend the money for the people,” Robredo said.
Robredo also visited the cities of Iligan and Gingoog on that day.
Prior to the rally, representatives from the various sectors had a forum where they raised issues affecting them in the hopes that Robredo will act on them once she is elected into office.
Joel Gabatan from the transport sector spoke about his concerns on the national government’s public utility vehicle modernization program.
Denise Edwina Gonzales, a student formator at Xavier University and one of Robredo’s volunteers here, said the Department Education must address the “new normal” in learning especially in the transition of learning from online to face-to-face.
The crowd of mostly young people attending the rally, Gonzales noted, could be due to the youth’s active presence online and their grasp of the present national issues.
“I think students who spend so much time in social media read the post of the [Office of the Vice President] and [Vice President]. They then influence each other. They have chat groups,” she said in an online interview Tuesday night.
“Most of the volunteers at the HQ are young. They stay, do a lot of work without pay. It’s like they want to be part of something better. They want to be associated with someone not bad,” Gonzales said. (davaotoday.com)
