Supporters of Vice President Leni Robredo on Tuesday staged a Mardi Gras-themed people’s rally in Olongapo City.
They created pink “maskaras,” hung tarpaulins, showcased performances, and offered food and drinks to those who participated during the rally.
Shad Rojo, the event’s program committee chairperson, said they just wanted to treat the residents to a festival after almost two years of lockdowns and travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“And because the ‘Pink Movement’ is a really fun campaign, we chose to base the theme of the event on Olongapo City’s famous Mardi Gras because we also wanted to showcase the energy that is very Olongapo and Zambales,” Rojo’s statement read.
“Mardi Gras is something we, the people of Olongapo and Zambales, look forward to, just like how we look forward to VP Leni and Senator Kiko winning this coming election,” he added.
Dumaguete, dubbed The City of Gentle People, meanwhile is all set to welcome Robredo at the Negros Oriental People’s Rally today at the RUSI Ballfield.
Robredo had won over the province in her vice presidential bid in 2016 with 255,000 votes against her rival Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s, 66,000 votes, the biggest difference in terms of percentage in the country in that election.
Robredo was last in Dumaguete in December, the first national official to visit Negros Oriental in the devastating aftermath of Typhoon Odette.
Earlier this month, a group of farmers from Sumilao, Bukidnon headed to Dumaguete to do a house-to-house campaign for Robredo and Pangilinan.
Robredo had marched with the Sumilao farmers to fight for their ancestral land back in 2007, when she was a lawyer with SALIGAN, and now they are returning her support, campaigning for her in different parts of the country.
Back in February, members of the Dumaguete Fisherfolk Association and the Negros Dumaguete Makataong Organisasyon ng mga Tsuper at Operator (NDMOTO), announced they were supporting the candidacies of Robredo and her running mate, Senator Kiko Pangilinan.
In March, hundreds of alumni from Silliman University in Dumaguete City, including a former Cabinet secretary and a former university president expressed support for Robredo.
They include Dr. Crispin Maslog, former director of the SU College of Mass Communication, Dr. Angel C. Alcala, a Ramon Magsaysay Awardee and former secretary of the Commission on Higher Education and of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR); and Dr. Ben Malayang, former DENR assistant secretary and president of the university.
Robredo will also head over to Siquijor on Wednesday afternoon with the Office of the Governor at the Siquijor Capitol Complex as her first stop for a private meeting with Siquijor Governor Zaldy Villa, Vice Governor Mei Ling, and other local officials. Ling has endorsed Robredo’s presidential bid.
Robredo will stop by at the Dukuganan Gym at the Siquijor Capitol Complex to speak to her supporters, followed by the main event in the province, the Siquijor People’s Rally at the Queengate Center in Larena. Gates will open for the Siquijodnons at 12:30pm.
In 2016, Robredo enjoyed a landslide victory in the vice-presidential race in Siquijor, where she tallied 30,468 votes against Alan Peter Cayetano’s 7,281 and Bongbong Marcos’ 5,746.