VICE President Leni Robredo urged her supporters not to let their emotions get over them nor issue words that would hurt other people, but instead focus on the remaining 20 days of campaigning for the upcoming polls.
“Alam kong maraming nasabi na ngayong araw. Ang iba nainis, ang iba walang pakialam, at ang iba nagalit. Nagpapasalamat ako sa lahat na dumipensa,” she said in a Facebook post.
(I know that a lot has been said today. Some were irritated, others just don’t care, while some were angry. I’m grateful to those who defended me.)
“Pero may pakiusap lang ako. Mula bukas, 20 campaign days na lang natitira. Kailangan wag tayong magpatalo sa emosyon. Huwag nang magbitaw ng masasakit na salita. Focus lang muna tayo sa kampanya -- tao sa tao, puso sa puso. May bayan tayong kailangan ipaglaban,” she added.
(But my request is starting tomorrow, we only have 20 days left to campaign. We should not give in to our emotions. Don’t say hurtful words. Let’s focus on a person-to-person, heart-to-heart campaign. We have a country to fight for.)
Robredo made the statement hours after her rivals, presidential aspirants former Defense secretary Norberto Gonzales, Manila City Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso and Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, held a press conference where they revealed “persistent” attempts of the “dilawans” and “pinklawans” to make them back out from the race.
“Dilawans” refers to members and supporters of the opposition or the Liberal Party of the Philippines (LP), while the “pinklawans” refers to the supporters of Robredo.
Robredo is the chairman of LP but she opted to run in the May 9 polls as an independent candidate.
The three candidates said several personalities, including Robredo herself, came up to them asking them to withdraw their candidacy and support and campaign for the latter with “offers,” including the reimbursement of their campaign funds.
Moreno and Gonzales said Robredo should be the one to withdraw from the race.
Gonzales said Robredo cannot beat survey frontrunner, former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., because the people do not like her and that she is just “blocking” the way of other candidates to the top.
In the recent presidential survey, Robredo ranked second.
Lacson said the press conference aims to show the Filipino people that they have plenty of choices, with greater ability to lead the country in the next six years, aside from Marcos and Robredo.
The candidates said the two were too eager to get in the government’s top post not for the Filipino people but for their personal intentions, especially for the benefit of their parties or families. (SunStar Philippines)