It was October 7, 2021, a day before the filing for the candidates for the next President of the Philippines, when Leni Robredo opened her doors, and addressed the nation. It seems as if for the first time in so many years, regardless of whether people have avidly supported or despised her, every Filipino came into silence.
Just like a Pacquiao match, everyone went to their TVs, or their phones and listened to her live speech. And after a few minutes into her introduction, she made an announcement that everyone expected, but still shook the nation by surprise: ”inihahain ko ang aking sarili bilang kandidato sa pagkapangulo.”
Some rejoiced, some went into murmuring anger, but most who have supported her since she won until that very day—most of them teared in joy and hope. But the charisma that a nanay like Vice President Leni finds itself long before she was even elected in 2016. Her radiating hope started when she became a public servant in Naga, Camarines Sur.
Nanay Leni: A Hometown Servant
Before she was elected in any governmental office, VP Leni started as a lawyer. Back in 1997, she passed the bar exams. Filled with opportunities as a novice lawyer, she opted to choose the one that spent most of her time with the people she had the compassion to serve.
VP Leni became an active legal servant to poor and marginalized sectors in her city and province. She often gave pro bono assistance to those that needed to fight for their basic necessities in court, which were mostly fisherfolk and rural citizens deprived of their basic rights. Despite being opposed to often gigantic firms with connections to the local government, she persisted in raising the flag high and upholding their rights, regardless of how intimidating that may be.
Outside the courts, VP Leni became an active community worker. She built organizations in her city that supported opportunities for rural women, well knowing how hard life may have been during that time, especially as discrimination against women were more prevalent at such time.
Entering the Arena of Politics
The rise of VP Leni as a figure of politics came at an unfortunate time. It was during the death of his husband, Jesse Robredo, that she firmly decided that she needed to continue this passionate legacy that her partner so lovingly devoted himself to. After the days of mourning, she finally vied for candidacy as a congresswoman in her province, her first attempt and also her first victory in elections. She focused on filing legislation that improved the situation of her constituencies, and that of her advocacy for women’s rights. She advanced essential laws that promoted the voice of the people to be influential in the field of lawmaking and governance. In the end, her transparent and clean record only served proof of her genuine and unfaltering principles.
When the 2016 elections came, Leni formed a tandem with then DILG Secretary Mar Roxas, the successor of the Vice President’s departed husband. With opponents ranging from dynastic families, including Cayetano and Marcos, Jr., among others, Leni Robredo, a woman away from a dynasty, was a certain underdog for the most. She was often disregarded in initial surveys, and even during the campaign of her opponents. But, indeed, a woman like Leni knows how to fight until the end with honor, and it had certainly paid off.
After an overnight tally of the votes two days since the elections closed, Leni Robredo clinched and eventually overtook Marcos, Jr., who was almost absolute of his winnability that he became complacent and assured. The last man standing was not only a woman, but also a mother—however, this time, a mother of the people.
A Mother surrounded by Men
Unlike other countries, the Philippines do not elect the Vice President as a tandem to its President. For foreigners, this would be a great irony, especially when the President contrasted with the elected Vice President.
And that was exactly the case in June 30, 2016. As President Rodrigo Roa Duterte was being sworn to office in Malacañang, surrounded by allies of men in power, Vice President Leni Robredo took oath in front of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, the first woman to hold office. VP Leni was surrounded by her daughters, fellow women advocates. It was the greatest irony in the presidential history—a “manly” President who is infamous for his quips against women, and a “womanly” Vice President who would not take anything sitting down.
Since day one, President Duterte knew he will have a fight with someone next in line to him, and a fight it was, indeed. As President Duterte blasted opponents and women here and there, VP Leni, with her resolute face, parried them left and right, saying that as a woman, she will not stand down. And most importantly, as a mother, she will do whatever it takes to fight.
And thus, even as the presidency toppled people left and right, most being acquainted or a friend of VP Leni, she did not take them sitting down.
Ang Pangako ng Ina sa kanyang Inangbayan
Perhaps, VP Leni became the master of endurance. Despite the tightening attacks as she seated in office, she remained unfazed in creating programs, services, and other initiatives that focused on her constituency—now being the whole country. During the pandemic, as the Philippines was shamed for being one of the countries lagging behind in response to the crisis, she channeled her minute budget to nurses, frontliners, and citizens who needed it the most.
She was a mother, there wasn’t a single bit of doubt there. But this time, it was not only a title she embodied. She was tested and challenged to prove it by principle as she carried the title daily in her office. Her reverence for to the people paid off, as she had been given by Congress a bigger budget to effectively serve the country, regardless of her being an opposition in office.
Her initiatives gave her the boost to the highest position in the country, and she did all of it humbly, without even thinking about the opportunities she may make out of it. The people applauded VP Leni, but within her heart, she was not even aspiring for praise, only the hope and happiness that she was able to provide through service.
And at this time, she is ready to take motherhood to the most powerful place in the land. Again, the fight is almost the same in 2016—surrounded by men all around, with monumental challenges to overcome. But this time, she’s not an underdog nor a new player in the field. Above all, she is a mother, a listener and a hopeful light of the family that carries the banner of hope with people standing by her side. With this now known by her opponents, they now finally realize that they will need to train themselves with a talent that VP Leni has naturally known for years—a well and intent listener. Her opponents cannot match even an inch of this talent she has, molded by passion.