Negrense Leni supporters bank on volunteerism

Elma Tuala and her family arrived at their assigned spot on the main road leading from the airport just after the sun’s first rays pierced through mountain peaks around Barangay Bagtic, Silay City on Friday, November 5.

WAITING FOR LENI. Early birds in their respective bays along a long stretch from the Silay airport to the border of Bacolod City, where Vice President Leni Robredo will attend a people’s assembly and meet with various officials and groups over two days.

Within an hour, groups of kin and friends arrived, parking an estimated 1,200 vehicles in the spaces between lamp posts along a 10-km stretch to the border of Talisay and Bacolod cities, where Vice President Leni Robredo and Senator Kiko Pangilinan will have most of their meetings over a two-day visit.

The standing caravan organized by Laban Leni Negros Occidental included dances, drum beats, plenty of waving ribbons and pompoms and shirts in all shades of the trademark pink of Robredo.

Residents who did not have cars came in tricycles; one group of sugar workers parked a borrowed tractor. Joseph Tuvilla said a group of “titas,” a fond term for older women, said they had walked all the way to the caravan site from Bata Subdivision in Bacolod.

Organizers chose to stop at the city’s border to observe health protocols in the city, which has been placed under Alert Level 4 by the COVID-19 Inter-Agency Task Force. (IATF).

Ebullient mood

For days, member of the loose network of Robredo-Pangilinan supporters posted preparations, largely home-based, family-driven, do-it-yourself paraphernalia.

In EB Magalona, just next to Silay, City, Negros Occidental, generations of volunteers for VP Leni Robredo and Sen Kiko Pangilinan hand-craft flaglets and pom-poms for their families. “All ages love PINK🥰🎀,” says Alaina M Oximer, who took the photos.

“All ages love PINKSmiling face with 3 heartsRibbon,” said Alaina M Oximer as she posted photos of generations of kin hand-crafting flaglets and other decorative items.

The local welcome’s energy infected Robredo and Pangilinan who half hang out of their vans’ open doors, waving energetically at people.

Robredo stopped briefly, enough to grab a pink pan de sal offered by a fan and to ask for the name of a Corgi brought by another supporter

The vice president often presents a calm mien but women and men greeted her with the fervor of crowds awaiting pop stars. After caravan posts by participants described euphoria, although most seemed willing to meet the next test.

Robredo supporters banked on volunteerism in mounting campaigns and vowed to continue with this main thrust throughout the campaign season.

Nobody asked for shirts or pins; people designed or swapped or bought from each other. Or offered for free extra items if people were willing to pick these up. Foodies baked pink pan de sal for friends or paired this with lugaw for outreach projects.

‘Independent initiatives’

The two-day visit of Robredo and Pangilinan coincides with the Cinco de Noviembre celebration, marking Negros Occidental’s liberation from the Spanish regime.

Former Negros Occidental governor Rafael Coscolluela, leader of Negros for Leni Movement, which helped organize the People’s Assembly, said Robredo’s bid for the country’s top position has received a “fantastic reception from Negrenses from all walks of life.”

“I’ve never seen this kind of response to any candidate ever. The spontaneous outpouring of volunteerism and independent initiatives is amazing,” he said.

Vice President Leni Robredo arrives at the Acacia Hotel for a People’s Assembly.

Following the announcement of Robredo’s presidential run in early October, groups from various sectors in the city and the province created huge social media groups, jumpstarting initiatives and civic engagement.

Coscolluela said he initially thought that support from various sectors would pose a challenge for their campaign.

“I thought resources and warm bodies would be a problem, but people from all over are contributing time and personal resources to create a huge wave of support for VP Leni. It’s incredible,” he said.

Main challenge

While the mood was festive, the messages of support for Robredo spoke of grim realities. The Negros Doctors for Leni slammed the mismanagement of pandemic funds as health workers around the country launched “a fight against an unseen enemy with lack of protection, compensation and appreciation from leaders of the nation it was fighting for.”

The doctors even used the phrase “Never Again,” placing the current pandemic into a historical arc of abuse leading back to the Marcos dictatorship that saw massive hunger and malnutrition in Negros.

Amidst the excitement, Coscolluela stressed that there was no room for complacency.

He said the challenge now is how to sustain the momentum while countering the trolls and propaganda against Robredo on social media platforms.

He also said that reaching out to the masses, the misinformed, the audiences reached by “fake” news, and delivering the right messages will be a “continuing concern over the coming months.”

No officials yet from Bacolod City and Negros Occidental have openly declared their support to any presidential aspirants. Bacolod and Negros Occident were previously branded as “Mar country,” referring to former Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas, who has roots in the province,

Robredo, who was the running mate of Roxas in the 2016 polls, garnered 614,440 votes in Negros Occidental; followed by Francis Escudero with 136,634; Ferdinand Marcos Jr., 119,149; and Alan Peter Cayetano, 72,832.

Coscolluela, when asked who were the local personalities moving to Robredo’s side, said, “it’s not a good time to say who is supporting the Vice President’s bid.” – Rappler.com

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