Leni-Kiko to unveil ‘surprise’ at April 21 Cebu grand rally

PARTICIPANTS can expect a surprise from Team Angat of the Leni-Kiko tandem that will be unveiled at the finale of Part 2 of their grand people’s rally titled “CEBOOM” on Thursday, April 21, 2022.This was what Robredo People’s Council Cebu Chapter, the organizers of the event, told reporters during a press conference on Monday, April 18.The grand rally will be attended by Vice President and presidential candidate Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo, Senator and vice presidential candidate Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan and the tandem’s entire lineup of senatorial candidates.Organizers said the Leni-Kiko slate, known as “Team Angat,” will give a surprise to the participants in their grand finale.They expect at least 250,000 people to participate in the event.The rally will be held at the corner of Ouano Avenue and C.D. Seno St. in the North Reclamation Area.Unlike the previous rally that aimed to attract more supporters in the southern part of Cebu, the upcoming rally was organized so the Leni-Kiko tandem could penetrate supporters in Mandaue City and the northern part of Cebu.“This just shows how VP Leni values Cebu,” said Jay Pujanes, spokesperson of the Lawyers for Leni.At the event, Robredo, Pangilinan and the senatorial candidates will share their platforms or objectives to be accomplished should they win in the May 9 election, and persuade those undecided to vote for them.Local politicsThe grand rally will be attended exclusively by Team Angat members. No local political candidates supporting the Leni-Kiko tandem will be at the event.“The local politics has too many dynamics that we may not be able to handle. Rather than try to accommodate it, we just want to keep it on the main focus, which is the Leni-Kiko team,” said Jerry Rapes, head of marketing and promotions of the Robredo People’s Council Cebu Chapter.Celebrities and artists, both local and national, supporting Robredo’s candidacy will perform at the CEBOOM Grand People’s Rally Part 2.Robredo and Pangilinan’s first rally in Cebu took place at the Southwestern University-Phinma gym last Feb. 24.Focus on campaignOn Sunday, after other presidential aspirants claimed Robredo was behind calls for their withdrawal from the race, Vice President Robredo urged her supporters not to let their emotions rule them nor issue words that would hurt other people, but instead focus on the remaining 20 days of campaigning for the upcoming polls.“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,” she wrote in a Facebook post in Tagalog.“But my request is starting tomorrow, we have only 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,” she added in Tagalog.Robredo made the statement hours after her rivals, presidential aspirants former defense secretary Norberto Gonzales, Manila City Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso and Sen. 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 people, including Robredo herself, asked 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.‘Polluted’ surveyMarcos has dominated the surveys conducted by Pulse Asia and SWS, the main players in the industry that issue monthly surveys in relation to the upcoming elections.Marcos also dominated again the latest survey conducted by Octa Research Group.In the Tugon ng Masa Survey conducted by Octa from April 2 to 6, Marcos got 57 percent out of the 1,200 respondents from across the country, two percent higher than his 55 percent score in its Feb. 12 to 17 survey.Ranking second was Robredo, whose score increased by seven percent or from 15 percent in February to 22 percent in April.Third was Moreno with nine percent; followed by Sen. Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao, seven percent; Lacson, four percent; former presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella, one percent; and Faisal Mangondato, labor leader Leody de Guzman and Gonzales at the bottom, scoring .001 to .1 percent.In the press conference Sunday, Lacson and Moreno said they had evidence to prove that surveys are “polluted.”“If we believe in surveys, sana wala kami dito ngayon. The fact na nandito kami, and we will prove it to you later, subject to verification, that we could prove to you na polluted ‘yung surveys. We have evidence. We are just verifying na ‘yung mga enumerators ay napasok na ng mga malalaking or what you call political oligarchs,” he said.“Pulse Asia and SWS may not know it because they are the ones doing the analysis, but the raw data that they are getting may be subject to further study kasi hawak-hawak namin ngayon na nahuli na namin ‘yung gumagawa ng survey sa kalsada,” he added. (HIC, TPM / SunStar Philippines)