Pulilan mayor endorses Robredo, hosts warm welcome in Bulacan

Presidential aspirant and Vice President Leni Robredo received a warm welcome as she visited the province of Bulacan for a vaccine express initiative on Wednesday, November 24.

Bulacan residents lined up in a stationary caravan from Guiguinto to Malolos cheered as the vice president’s convoy passed around 7:30 am.
In Pulilan town, Mayor Maria Rosario Ochoa-Montejo endorsed the opposition presidential candidate as volunteers whooped and clapped in a Pulilan Central School hall festooned with pink balloons. 

“Para sa ating bayan Pulilan, para sa ating bansang Pilipinas, para sa kapakanan ng kinabukasan ng ating mga anak, at ang kanilang magiging anak, pinipili ko si VP Leni Robredo bilang presidente ng Pilipinas,” the mayor said.

The audience included volunteers in the local government’s programs, members of the parish pastoral councils, homeowners’ association, market vendors, health frontliners, and civic groups.

The Office of the Vice President (OVP) provided first-dose COVID-19 vaccines for about 1,000 Bulakenyos from A1 to A5 categories at three Robinsons Malolos cinemas.

The inoculated pre-registered individuals also received hygiene and sanitation kits from the OVP and its Angat Buhay partners.

Robredo said her office’s vaccination assistance will continue from first dose to booster shots. The OVP will  follow the lead of the local government units, depending on their inoculation needs, she added.

“Ako, ang tulong na ino-offer namin (ay) hanggang sa kailangan so magmula sa first dose hanggang sa second dose hanggang sa booster shots. Pero itong ginagawa natin ngayon ay first dose pero iyong tulong namin until kailangan nandiyan kami. Kaya nagpapasalamat tayo sa volunteer doctors natin (dahil) sila talaga iyong yaman natin dito sa vaccine express,” said Robredo later said during an interview with the media.

(We will offer what is needed, so from the first dose, to second dose, until booster shots. What we are giving now is the first dose, but as long as we’re needed, we will help. That is why we thank volunteer doctors because they are the ones who really make the vaccine express.)

She acknowledged that in Bicol, her home region, many still have to get their first dose. 

While at the site, Robredo thanked the partners, LGU personnel, barangay health workers, and volunteers from the medical sector who joined the said initiative.

In Filipino, the vice president said government grassroots health workers face economic challenges but continue to “risk your lives” even when “your own families face disasters.” – Rappler.com

Joann Manabat and Jerome Sagcal are Luzon-based journalists and awardees of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship.