WITH only pink party balloons and tarps, supporters launched the campaign of Vice President Maria Lourdes ‘Leni’ Robredo and her running mate, Senator Francis ‘Kiko’ Pangilinan in Cagayan de Oro amid difficulties in logistics and funds.
Supporters bought their own fuel, bought the pink party balloons and tarps used in the 50-vehicle motorcade that started in Opol town and ended in their Leni-Kiko headquarters in JR Borja Extension, this city.
This kind of volunteerism is akin to that which catapulted the late President Corazon Aquino in the February 7, 1986 snap elections that eventually toppled the Marcos regime.
But will this kind of volunteerism help Robredo and Pangilinan win the May 2022 elections?
Local organizer Engr. Tony Requirme said the Leni-Kiko national headquarters have tasked them to garner 900,000 votes in northern Mindanao, which he admitted, “would be a struggle to achieve.”
“We have to resort to volunteerism to reach the marginalized sector, the key to victory,” Requirme said.
Requirme said it would be indeed a struggle given their logistical and financial problems to organize a grassroots campaign among the urban poor communities and far-flung villages in the five provinces and nine cities of northern Mindanao or region 1o.
Northern Mindanao or region 10 had 3,541,831 registered voters in the 2016 elections. The Commission on Elections(Comelec) said only 2,108,036 voters actually cast their ballots.
Kagawad Rey Ranes Balandra of Barangay Macasandig, Cagayan de Oro said Leni-Kiko supporters are mostly from the middle class families.
Balandra said to get the votes for Robredo and Pangilinan, organizers have to get the support of the marginalized sectors.
He said a good example is a support given by the transport sector for Leni and Kiko.
Joel Gabatan, head of the National Confederation of Transport Union said they have organized the drivers to help in the key battlegrounds in the city.
“Our drivers are told to ask their passengers sitting on the front seats to vote for Leni and Kiko. This would prove helpful,” Gabatan said.
Still, the Leni-Kiko machinery suffered a loss when Cagayan de Oro Mayoralty candidate Rolando Uy and his son, Vice Mayor Joaquin Uy, have reportedly forged an agreement to support the candidacy of former Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and Davao Mayor Sara Duterte.
The Uys are allied to Mayor Oscar Moreno who is running for governor in Misamis Oriental.
Moreno has pledged support to Robredo and Pangilinan and led the opening salvo of their campaign in Balingasag town, Misamis Oriental yesterday.
