[Newsstand] Meet Leni’s most effective spokesperson

In the last two days, a video interview of a tricycle driver in Cupang, Muntinlupa, has gone viral. Ronald Carigo was asked one question – What do you look for in a president? – and he gave an eloquent answer that ran for a little under four minutes. Everything I look for in a president can be found in “Attorney Leni Robredo,” he said.

Like many others, I was moved by Carigo’s eloquence; his answer, mainly in Filipino but with some English strategically deployed, was substance that had found the right, the plain, style. But what raised his answer to another level was his earnest simplicity; he was Everyman, speaking truth on behalf of the powerless.

Translating his engaging Filipino into English drains some of the color, removes some of the verve, from his answer. It shows the limits of our English. But it is still a useful exercise, because it helps us understand the power of his words.

Part of the appeal of his answer lay in his structured approach. He thought in terms of parts or stages. “Unang-una, malinis ang kanyang pagkatao, track record. Pangalawa, abogado. Ito ay may angking talino, may kakayahang mamuno sa bansa.” [First of all, she has a clean character and track record. Secondly, she’s a lawyer. This person is intelligent, has the capacity to head the country.] Speaking in this way signals that the speaker has thought the matter through and follows a mental map; in this way, he instills confidence in the listener.

Another part of his appeal was he was obviously updated, and the answer, referencing current news, reflected that. As it quickly became known, the video interview was conducted by Sweepea Guevara Concejero during a visit to tricycle drivers in Muntinlupa on Sunday, February 20, to ask them to consider putting up Leni Robredo tarps or posters. Carigo’s answer (by my count) made at least three references to the Marcoses without mentioning their name. Two of those were the recent subject of public discussion.

For instance, when he summed up why he chose Robredo, Carigo said: “Wala siyang uri ng bahid ng korupsyon, hindi siya nagtago ng kanyang pagkatao, tunay lahat ng kanyang dokumento. Yun ang napili ko.” (She carries no stain of corruption, she didn’t hide her true self, all her documents are genuine. That’s who I chose.) That phrase about documents obviously referred to Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his lies about schooling. 

But analyzing Carigo’s words in this way anesthesizes his answer. It is much better to listen to him at length.

Faithful

What does he see in Robredo?

“Unang-una, tapat. Tapat sa tao, tapat sa anong uri ng klase ng tao, mapamayaman, mapamahirap. Hindi ka binibigyan na para bang, Mayaman ang kausap, iba ang sinasabi; pag mahirap ang kausap, iba din ang sinasabi. Tunay ang pagkatao ng pangulo. Yung ang hinahanap ko.”

(First of all, faithful. Faithful to the people, faithful to any kind of person, whether rich or poor. Someone who doesn’t give off the sense that, when talking to the rich, will say one thing, and when talking to the poor, will say another. A genuine person, that is what I’m looking for.)

“Ang tunay na pangulo talaga ay naglilingkod. Public service, adbokasiya niya yun …. Parang adbokasiya niya talagang tumulong sa tao. Kaya siya ang pinili kong pangulo.”

(A genuine president serves. Public service, that’s her advocacy …. It’s like this, her advocacy is really helping people. That’s why she’s the president I choose.)

All of the quotes thus far, including the first two about her clean character and the dig at the documents, came from the first half of his answer, which in my understanding was the intellectual or rational response to the one question asked. 

The second half, which I did not expect, was the emotional answer. 

Likable

Carigo said he liked Robredo. It was a personal sense that was based on his perception of how the vice president had embraced her public role. He then pointed to a startling contrast; rather, it was the lesson he drew from the contrast that was startling.

“Nagustuhan ko si Leni. Kasi, bilang kami mga tricycle driver, kahit maliit kami, nagbabayad pa rin kami ng tax. Ang bayad ng bawat isang uri ng mahirap na Pilipino sa tax sa gobyerno ay ginagamit yan para sa tao. Kaya nung makita ko ng kumpleto si Leni sa pagbabayad ng tax, nakita ko si, yung isa hindi nagbabayad ng tax, napakarami niyang hindi tinulungan na mahirap.”

(I liked Leni. Because we are tricycle drivers, even though we are ordinary people, we still pay taxes. What each kind of poor person pays in taxes to the government is used for the benefit of the people. When I saw that Leni had paid her taxes completely, and I saw that the other candidate did not pay taxes, that other person failed to help so many poor people.)

Carigo’s explanation of taxes and government service is Civics 101 – and perhaps for that very reason powerful and compelling. He gave the example of the Philippine General Hospital unable to give free medicine to its patients, something which he said he had experienced, and concluded:

“Ang ibig sabihin lang niyan, may isang taong hindi nagbayad ng tax. Kaya kaming mga mahihirap, kahit TRU, binabayaran namin yan, alam namin na yung pera na nagpapasok sa gobyerno, gagamitin sa tao. Kaya naniniwala ako na kung ang pamunoan ng ating bansa ay malinis ang kanyang pananaw at malinis ang kanyang paggamit ng pera ng tao, sigurado akong makakarating sa tao. Serbisyo publiko bababa sa tao kasi ang pera naming mahihirap ibabalik sa amin ng gobyerno.“

(All that means is that one person did not pay taxes. That’s why the poor like us, even TRU (Tricycle Regulatory Unit fees), we pay all that, we know that the money that enters government will be used for the people. That’s why I believe that if the leadership of our country has a clean orientation and their use of the people’s money is clean, I am sure that the money will reach the people. Public service will reach the people because the money from poor people like us will be returned to us by the government.)

Leni’s salary

“Kaya yun ang gusto ko kay Leni … wala akong makita hindi maganda. Lahat,  napakaganda ng kanyang pagkatao. Yung suweldo ni Leni, tinapatan niya ng labingwalong oras? Daig pa niya yung ibang tao dito, kami nag-tatrabaho kami, mga hanggang alas-siyete, ayaw na namin, pagod na kami. Pero si Ma’am Leni, walang bayad sa overtime. Imaginin mo, yung tax mo, tax ng kahit na sino ng uri ng tao, maniwala kayo sa akin, yung binayaran natin, bawing-bawi tayo kay Ma’am Leni. Bawing-bawi tayo sa tax na binayad natin kay Ma’am Leni.”

(That’s what I like about Leni … I cannot see anything that isn’t good. Everything about her character is good. The salary for Leni, she matches that with 18 hours (of work per day)? She beats some of the people here. We work here, until around seven p.m., but then we want to stop, we’re tired. But Ma’am Leni, she doesn’t get paid for working overtime. Just imagine, your taxes, the taxes of anyone, believe me, what we paid, we get much more in return from Ma’am Leni. We get much more in return for the taxes we pay (for the salary of) Ma’am Leni.)

Ronald Carigo, who tried to join the first caravan last October 23, has been interviewed on Robredo’s show on dzRH, and is the source of the stirring quote, “Kami ang pera nya” (a statement translated into “We are her currency” and embraced by a cash-constrained campaign) – had more to say. He put a special spin on the fact that Robredo is a lawyer; she is the only lawyer running for president in 2022.

“Kaya naniniwala ako [that’s why I believe], si Ma’am Leni, si Attorney Leni Robredo, with due respect … Attorney Leni Robredo  is the only presidential candidate na may capacity mamuno sa ating bansa [with the capacity to lead our country].” – Rappler.com

Veteran journalist John Nery is a columnist and editorial consultant of Rappler.