Robredo supporters in Cavite reject ‘Marcos country’ tag on province
CAVITE, Philippines — For supporters of presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo in Cavite, the province is not a “Marcos country” as claimed by their governor, as they vow to be one less vote for the son and namesake of the deposed dictator who is also running for president.
At the whistle-stops of Robredo in Cavite, her supporters had a rallying cry: 800,000 minus one, in reference to Cavite Gov. Jonvic Remulla’s commitment to deliver a victory for former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in the second most vote-rich province by 800,000 votes.
“That won’t happen,” small business owner Terry Madlangao, 56, told Philstar.com in Filipino in Dasmariñas City. “There are a lot of Leni supporters here and volunteers.”
For 35-year-old broadcast traffic manager Bill Kevin del Rosario, Cavite is not a Marcos country, even if Robredo lost the province in the 2016 vice-presidential race to him by over 150,000 votes.
“Caviteños have a different kind of awareness now. We are seeing that our ranks are slowly increasing,” Del Rosario told Philstar.com in Filipino.
‘Different from 2016’
Robredo told reporters that the 2016 race where she emerged victorious by a slim margin was “more difficult” as she started from the bottom in pre-election surveys, unlike now that she ranks second, albeit still far behind frontrunner Marcos Jr.
This is despite the fact that Robredo was an administration candidate when she ran for vice president, which she said gave her the leverage of enjoying the support of local officials.
Now an independent opposition candidate with hardly any political machinery to speak of, Robredo relies largely on campaign volunteers, whom she described as all “fired up.”
“Back in 2016, we did not have volunteers which is why we’re very hopeful that we would have a better showing here in Cavite compared to 2016,” she said partly in Filipino.
“This is very different from 2016. The people did not have this kind of fervor, so hopefully by end March or early April, surveys would capture what we’re seeing on the ground,” she added.
On the ground, Robredo’s supporters — her Kakampinks — showed up in the tens of thousands, filling up the General Trias Sports Plaza for her grand rally to prove that “Cavite is pink.”
“If this strength that you are showing tonight will be the same strength that we will show until May 9, we will win,” Robredo told the feverish crowd, which organizers said reached around 47,000.
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