• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Former Vice President Leni Robredo yesterday called on Negrenses, many of whom supported her during the 2016 and 2022 elections, to rally behind independent senatorial candidates Bam Aquino and Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan.
Robredo said “we need good people in the Senate.”
Among all the senatorial aspirants, the former vice president said she knows Bam and Kiko most, whom she had worked with since 2016.
The two senatorial candidates, Robredo added, also share her advocacies.
Pangilinan was Robredo’s former running mate in the 2022 presidential and vice presidential elections, while Aquino served as their campaign manager.
Robredo won as vice president during the 2016 elections.
Considered a major electoral battleground, Negros Occidental has now more than two million voters, according to the Commission on Elections.
Aquino and Pangilinan also got the support of Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose, who aired his endorsements for them during a political rally at the Paglaum Sports Complex in Bacolod City.
His predecessor, former Negros Occidental Gov. Rafael Coscolluela, also expressed his support for the senatorial bid of Aquino and Pangilinan.
Former Senator and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, who was jailed for more than six years during the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, and the number one nominee for the Mamamayang Liberal partylist group, along with Negrense Gary Alejano, also a nominee for the Magdalo partylist group, also joined the political activity.
“The public – many are not inclined to support a straight team. And so they’re looking for possible alternative candidates. And that is where I’ll endorse Senator Pangilinan and Senator Aquino as alternative and independent candidates, and not as opposition to the present administration,” Lacson stressed.
Organizers estimated the crowd at 4,000.*
