Supporters of Vice President Leni Robredo celebrated her 56th birthday by marking Friday, April 23, as “National Lugaw Day” through a simultaneous feeding program in over 100 sites across the country.

“We want to give the Vice President a meaningful birthday celebration and the best way to do it is to feed our hungry and needy countrymen who are badly hit by the pandemic,” said blogger Jover Laurio, one of the volunteers who arranged the feeding program.

Laurio said they started the feeding program with 15 teams in February and the plan snowballed to 12 other areas in March.

For Robredo’s birthday, the teams identified feeding stations in 103 sites, from Baguio City up north to Basilan down south.

The initiative comes as millions of Filipinos struggle to keep ends meet after the pandemic caused job losses and business closures amid steep quarantine measures in parts of the country, including the capital region.

Leni and lugaw

Photo from Julian Manongdo

Many Filipinos see a bowl of lugaw as a staple during the cold months, and as comfort food in times of sickness. Under the Duterte administration, it has turned into a politically charged dish.

Robredo’s critics have mocked her supporters for raising funds by selling lugaw for her successful vice presidential campaign in 2016. Robredo was then dubbed “Lugaw Queen” and “Leni Lugaw” – terms that her critics continued to use even after she won the post.

Robredo mostly ignored the attack, but in January 2020, she embraced the label in distributing lugaw to evacuees during the Taal Volcano eruption.

Lugaw has also recently became a symbol of the Duterte government’s confusing pandemic response, after village officials and law enforcers stopped delivery riders who carried the popular food item, wrongly claiming that lugaw was not essential.

Leni’s celebration

Photo from Robredo

Meanwhile, Robredo shared through a Facebook post on Friday that she found “the best birthday gift” in an illustrated storybook about her life.

“Dancing Waters,” published by Adarna Books, tells the story of Robredo from her childhood to her rise to the second highest post in government.

“This is very special because it is actually a story of how my Dad was my first teacher in kindness and compassion. The title was derived from my story that when I was growing up in Naga, my favorite activity with my Dad was watching the dancing fountain in front of the old PNB building while eating peanuts bought from the nearby kiosks at the Plaza Rizal,” Robredo reminisced.

In a photo shared on the eve of her birthday, Robredo was seen celebrating with daughters Tricia, Aika, and Jillian after she tested negative for COVID-19. – Rappler.com