News Roundup 24 April 2022
Apr 24, 2022 • 6 min Read
Robredo mounts show of force in Pasay with 400,000 people, A-listers | PHILSTAR.COM – Vice President Leni Robredo had quite the birthday bash in Pasay City as her supporters—from the common folk to A-list celebrities—came in droves along the stretch of Macapagal, Diokno and Seaside Boulevards for the independent presidential candidate. Organizers of Robredo’s rally on the occasion of her 57th birthday announced during the event that the crowd swelled to more than 400,000, breaking the record set by the vice president’s rally in Pampanga which was attended by around 220,000 people. Many of these Robredo supporters, or Kakampinks, had endured standing under the scorching heat of the sun for hours, getting hungry and thirsty as food and water was difficult to come by on the densely packed street. Despite these challenges, Kakampinks were still in high spirits, buoyed by appearances from A-list celebrities and entertainers. Earlier in the day, Robredo snagged a historic endorsement from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and its political party, the United Bangsamoro Justice Party. One of the country’s top entertainers, Vice Ganda, made a surprise appearance toward the end of the rally where he came onstage in a campy pink pantsuit with a kilometric train bearing Robredo’s name. Vice then declared that he was endorsing Robredo and raised her hand—an announcement that social media users had long been prodding him to do. “Ang regalo ko sa sambayanang Pilipino ay ang boto ko kay Leni Robredo. Sa gabing ito, opisyal kong ineendorso ang susunod na pangulo ng Republika ng Pilipinas, si Leni Robredo!” Vice said. (My gift to the Filipino people is my vote for Leni Robredo. On this night, I’m officially endorsing the next president of the Republic of the Philippines, Leni Robredo.)
Robredo to supporters: Respect others’ beliefs, continue opening hearts | INQUIRER.NET – As a birthday gift on her 57th birthday, Vice President Leni Robredo wants her supporters to continue “opening their hearts” and to continue to be patient in dealing with the supporters of her rivals, especially with election day just days away. “Ang hinihiling ko po sa inyong lahat, buksan ang ating mga puso, habaan ang ating pasensya dahil ang eleksyon pong ito, hindi lang po ito simple na away naming mga kandidato. Ang eleksyon pong ito mas malaki pa kaysa sa aming lahat. Dahil ang eleksyon pong ito, pagdedesisyonan natin kung ano ‘yung magiging kinabukasan nating lahat, at ano ang mangyayari sa bansa natin,” she told her supporters who attended the “People’s Rally” in Pasay City to celebrate her birthday on Saturday. (What I’m asking from all of you is to open our hearts, stretch our patience because this election is not a simple quarrel between us candidates. This election is bigger than all of us, because this is where we decide what our future would be, and what will happen to our country.) Kaya po ang pakiusap ko sa inyo, 14 days na lang ang natitira para tayo magkampanya […] dahil laban po natin ito para sa ating mga kababayan, kailangan buksan natin ‘yung ating mga puso. Huwag po tayong mapanghusga. Respetuhin po natin ‘yung ibang iba naman ‘yung paniniwala,” she stressed. (That’s why my request to you: we have 14 days to go with our campaign. Because this is a fight for our countrymen. We need to open our hearts. Let us not be judging. We must respect the beliefs of others.) Robredo also dismissed fake news about her, particularly her being linked to the communist New People’s Army (NPA) or that she is being advised by exiled communist leader Jose Maria Sison.“Alam ko na maraming mga fake news lalo pa po pag tumataas nang konti ‘yung ating numero mas lalong dumadami ang fake news. ‘Yung pinaka huli, NPA daw ako. Naniniwala ba kayo doon? Pangalawa, nabasa ko lang kaninang umaga, advisor ko daw ‘yung isang hindi ko na po papangalanan dahil wala naman tayong authority-ng magsabi kasi hindi totoo,” Robredo said. (I know that there are many fake news spreading about me especially if there is a slight increase in my survey rating. The most recent is that I am a member of the NPA. Do you believe that? Second, I read this morning that I am supposedly being advised by someone who I will not name because we do not have the authority to speak about things that are not true.) “Pero huwag din tayong mapagod sa paglaban sa fake news […] Alam niyo po, noong nakaraang six years, napakaraming fake news sinasabi sa akin, pero hindi ko masyadong pinapansin kasi sabi ko istorbo lang. Pero mali pala ako. Kailangan pag fake news, sinasabi kaagad natin na kasinungalingan ‘yan at ‘yung kasinungalingan palitan natin ng katotohanan,” she added. (But let us not get tired of fighting fake news. You know, in the last six years, a lot of fake information has been said about me. I did not mind because I thought it was just a distraction. But I was wrong. We must immediately dismiss these fake news as lies. We must replace lies with the truth.)
Vico Sotto: Vote-buyers will recoup money once elected | INQUIRER.NET – Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto warned voters on Friday that vote-buying candidates would want to recoup the money they spend on assuming office. The first-time mayor made this warning after a woman told him that some candidates were giving cash to voters. ‘I was about to board a vehicle when someone held my arm. “Mayor Vico!” the woman told me. “They gave money here yesterday. But don’t worry, we already know what they want. They will reimburse that money later,” Sotto said in a Facebook post written in Filipino on Friday. Sotto is puzzled at where candidates get funds to buy votes. For example, if the candidate spends P300 for each of 1,000 voters every day for 200 days, the candidate would end up spending a total of P60 million, according to the mayor. “Right there, they’re probably spending more than 60 MILLION PESOS?? Let me check the Forbes list again. Are they billionaires… Or are they being funded by people who miss the old system of fixed bidding and corruption at city hall?” Sotto said in the same post. “The truth hurts, but it is the truth: THOSE WHO SPEND BIG DURING A CAMPAIGN WILL HAVE TO RECOUP A BIGGER AMOUNT,” he added. Sotto noted that the Pasig City government unit has “already started to break this cycle.” “Let’s move to a brand new politics. We will not spend much, but if we win, we will use the fund of the LGU in full for the people,” Sotto said.
