Cheering supporters, dragon dance greet Roxas-Robredo COC filing

MANILA, Philippines – Live music, cheering crowds, and even a dragon dance greeted Liberal Party (LP) tandem Manuel Roxas II and Camarines Sur Third District Representative Leni Robredo as they filed their certificates of candidacy (COCs) for the May 2016 elections.

Two hours before the ruling coalition’s bets made their bids official at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office early Thursday, October 15, their yellow-clad supporters crowded Plaza Roma, waving banners and chanting “Roxas Na, Robredo Pa.”

Before filing their COCs, Roxas and Robredo attended mass at the Manila Cathedral, joined by their families and fellow LP members.

President Benigno Aquino III also graced the event to accompany his preferred tandem to continue the administration’s good governance and anti-corruption drive – or, as his party calls it, Daang Matuwid (straight path).

 

LP bets Mar Roxas, Leni Robredo on their way to Comelec to file their COCs @rapplerdotcom pic.twitter.com/Ep47IHjL55

— Katerina Francisco (@kaifrancisco) October 15, 2015

While crowds outside cheered and chanted, Roxas and Robredo stuck to business in their speeches after filing their COCs. 

In their short messages to supporters, the LP tandem reiterated the party’s campaign promise of continuity: pursuing the administration’s reform agenda.

For some of Roxas and Robredo’s supporters, it’s this promise that will be key to winning votes.

Promise of continuity

For Cavite resident Connie Verano, a Roxas-Robredo victory will mean assurance that the government’s flagship poverty alleviation project, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), will continue.

“The 4Ps program really helped a lot of the poor and needy. We’re confident that if Roxas is elected, he will surely continue that program,” Verano said.

“But if the others win, that program will be in danger,” she added.

While other aspiring public officials describe their platforms and programs as pro-poor, Ambre Oreno believes the Roxas-Robredo tandem will walk the talk.

She said Robredo’s background as a public attorney working with marginalized sectors is proof that she has the skills and heart for public service.

“Leni has experience working at the grassroots level. And now, by running for vice president, she can take that experience and help the entire country,” she said.

Remembering Jesse

While her experience and background serve as Robredo’s strengths, it also helps that she is known for a husband who made a name for himself for his good governance initiatives.

Once a low-key public attorney, Robredo was thrust into the political spotlight after the death of interior secretary Jesse Robredo in 2012. Initially reluctant to enter politics, she eventually bowed to public clamor to continue her husband’s legacy, winning the congressional race in Camarines Sur in 2013.

Her decision to run for a national post because of the same perceived call for continuing a legacy has earned Robredo some detractors.

But Joy Galera, vice president of Cavite-based organization Kilusang Marangal ng Bacoor, said the role of Robredo’s late husband couldn’t be denied.

“You can’t deny that people know her as Jesse’s wife. She can’t avoid being associated with Jesse. But it’s not a bad thing because Jesse did give a lot in service of his country,” she said.

Robredo’s short message to supporters on Thursday did not reference her husband. Instead, she focused on the LP’s messaging of Daang Matuwid.

“Ang pinapangako po namin ay ang pagpapatuloy, pagsusulong at lalong pagpapalawak ng makabuluhang pagbabago na sinimulan ng ating mahal na Presidente,” she said.

(What we’re promising is the continuation, pursuit, and expansion of the signfincant reforms started by our President.)

“Naniniwala po kami na ang Daang Matuwid ang siyang magpapatuloy ng malinis na pamamahala at magbibigay serbisyo para sa ating mga kababayan lalong-lalo na ang mga mahihirap,” she added.

(We believe that the straight path will ensure clean and honest governance to provide services to our fellowmen, especially the poor.)

The outright references to her husband may be absent, but the symbols are there.

Some of the supporters who trooped to Plaza Roma wore tsinelas – a throwback to the ordinary slippers often associated with Jesse Robredo, who was known to don the slippers while he visited his constituents in Naga City.

Logos of yellow slippers have now been appropriated as the symbol for his widow’s campaign for the second highest elective post of the land.

But it remains to be seen whether or not this will be effective in Robredo’s campaign for the vice presidency.  – Rappler.com