Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 28) — Despite not having the backing of the province’s governor, presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo kicked off her Eastern Visayas tour in Samar.
In front of 7,000 supporters, based on organizers’ estimates, Robredo vowed to make sure that Samar will not be forgotten and will be given all the help it would need.
“[P]areho tayong nangangailangan ng maraming tulong. Marami pong mahabang panahon parang laging nakakalimutan ‘yung Bicol saka Samar,” she said in a people’s rally in Calbayog City on Monday.
[Translation: We both need help. For such a long time, Bicol and Samar have always been neglected.]
Robredo said there are roads that need funding while the expensive cost of electricity calls for subsidy from the government. These interventions are needed, she explained, to help farmers and fisherfolk.
“Hindi lang po ‘yun, sisiguraduhin po natin kung ano mang development projects ang nangyayari na ngayon, sisiguraduhin natin na magpapatuloy ito,” she noted.
[Translation: Not only that, we’ll make sure that all the ongoing development projects will be continued.]
In 2016, Robredo won in the region except in Biliran and Leyte. In Samar, she narrowly defeated Marcos by more than 4,000 votes.
The presidential hopeful enumerated the projects her office launched in the province under the Angat Buhay program, including in Balangkayan, Salcedo, Hernani, and Quinapondan.
From providing multicabs to students in far-flung areas, Robredo shared how this assistance has evolved into putting up dormitories inside public high schools.
“Ano po ‘yung resulta nito? Grabe ‘yung improvement pa-attendance sa eskwelahan,” she pointed out.
[Translation: What’s the result? A significant improvement in attendance in schools.]
