MANILA, Philippines – The campaign of vice presidential bet Leni Robredo and the Liberal Party will officially end on Saturday, May 7, or two days before the 2016 elections. 

One lesson Robredo learned during the campaign is the need to rethink amendments that should be introduced to the country’s election laws.

“This particular system does not breed clean elections at all,” Robredo said during her Rappler interview on Saturday, hours before the Liberal Party’s miting de avance in Metro Manila.

“I’m afraid of things that will come in the future if we do not change the system of elections.”

The Camarines Sur representative who entered the vice presidential race “too late” said she didn’t have enough time to catch up and reach as many people as possible during the campaign period. 

“I had to really resort to media, TV, radio to get my message across. I would’ve wanted to visit each and every cranny of the country, because I think there is no better way of talking to people than face-to-face, allowing them to see you for who you really are, but because that’s not possible, I had to depend so much on TV ads, radio ads, and it’s difficult in a sense that it’s very expensive.”

Robredo said that unlike in local campaigning when all she had to do was go from one house to another and she could do things on her own, she had to “find the balance between traditional and what you actually believe in” during her national campaign. 

“It’s more difficult to find that black or white thing. There are so many gray areas in this election…. You have to depend on local politicians, and that’s the difficult thing as far as I’m concerned, because I’m very new in politics.”

She said the country’s electoral system is such that it would be difficult for someone with no funds or backing to be elected despite his or her capacity, or willingness to serve. (READ: Why Roxas has not enjoyed Robredo’s rise in ratings, in her own words)

“It’s been beneficial that I belong to a political party in a sense that all the political stuff is being done for me. I couldn’t have done it myself – I always have the tendency to push for what I believe is the right thing. So right now, the gray areas have become wider, and the difficult thing for me is how to stay the course.”

‘Ask for healing’

It has been a heated national elections both online and offline, and Robredo said she is not happy about how divisive the public campaign has turned out to be.

She called on the public “to unite and look at the future together, because it’s scary if this hate continues after elections.”

“Everyone should join hands and ask for healing for the country,” she said. (READ: Robredo: ‘Not enough time’ for alliance talks vs Duterte)

“When the President called for unity, I think he was also afraid of what will happen. This is also to make an appeal to our supporters to have a healthy respect of the preferences of everyone.”

Robredo lamented about all the abuse online, and how social media has unified “all the disconcerting voices.”

“I hope all bad things that happened will end on Monday – that’s a more rosy way of looking at it. I’m hopeful that after Monday, everything will be better,” she said, urging Filipinos to choose the candidate that will best lead the country forward.

‘A call to service’

Robredo said her bid for the vice presidency is a calling she could not simply ignore. 

“I don’t think I’d be here if I didn’t have a sense that this is a mission…. The call to service is really loud and clear. And I got strength from the words of my husband that not everyone is given this chance to be of service,” she explained. 

But she admitted she still needs all the help that she could get. She also asked people to call her attention “when I’m doing the wrong thing.”

“I don’t want to be one of those persons who went into the game only with the very best of intentions and then wake up someday realizing she’s not the same person anymore.” – Rappler.com