Leni Robredo had only served three years in the Philippine House of Representatives when, in 2016, she came from behind to narrowly beat Ferdinand Marcos Jr to become the country’s vice president. She hopes to repeat the feat in their rematch in the presidential election on Monday next week.
The only woman in a field of 10 candidates, Robredo is the last obstacle to Marcos Jr Jr gaining the presidency that his father lost in 1986, following a popular uprising.
This time, Robredo, a former lawyer and economist, faces a much bigger gap with Marcos Jr, who voter surveys show is heading toward a landslide victory.
Photo: AFP
Relentless attacks from Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who once called her a “scatterbrain,” and a vicious social media misinformation campaign waged by pro-Marcos groups have hurt Robredo’s popularity.
Her pledge to “defeat the archaic and rotten style of politics” in the Philippines has resonated with progressive voters fed up with Duterte’s authoritarian style.
Many also fear a repeat of the Marcos dictatorship, when billions of dollars were plundered from state coffers and widespread human rights abuses were committed.
“I am often told I am weak because I’m a woman, but I’ve never shirked from a challenge,” Robredo, 57, told a forum in February.
“I am offering a brand of leadership that is trustworthy, competent, industrious and dependable. You will not be fooled, you will not be robbed, you will never be left behind,” she said. “In 2022, the last man standing will still be a woman.”
Volunteers wearing Robredo’s pink campaign color have gone door to door nationwide in an against-the-odds effort to win over voters.
It has sparked comparisons with the people-driven movement for former president and democracy leader Corazon Aquino in the 1986 snap election that led to the ousting of Marcos Jr’s father.
Like Aquino, whose husband was shot dead by state forces in 1983, Robredo was reluctantly thrust into politics after the death of her husband.
Jesse Robredo, a respected Cabinet member in the administration of then-Philippine president Benigno Aquino, died in a plane crash in 2012.
Originally a lawyer for poor farmers and battered women, Leni Robredo served a single term in the House of Representatives, where she pushed for laws promoting transparency and accountability.
After winning the vice presidency in 2016, Leni Robredo transformed her small-budget, largely ceremonial office into one that fed the needy, empowered women and helped typhoon victims.
However, she earned the ire of Duterte by criticizing his deadly drug war and opposing his plan to bring back the death penalty.
In the Philippines, the vice president and president are elected separately.
After months of pressure from supporters and opposition groups to join the presidential race, she announced a run for the top job on Oct. 7 — two days after Marcos Jr.
Vowing to be a “president of all colors,” Leni Robredo recently implored her supporters to “embrace everyone” as they tried to woo voters.
“The future of the country rests on us all,” she said.
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