Opinion: What's Making VP Leni Soar? | By Manuel Caballero

Photo courtesy of VP Leni Robredo FB Page

ON MY WATCH

BY MANUEL L. CABALLERO

WHAT'S MAKING VP LENI SOAR?

This week's opinion column is a critical analysis of why, in my observation, presidential candidate Leni Robredo is soaring in the May 9 PH election campaign over the other candidates.

 

It may be recalled that when VP Leni offered herself (not announced) to be a candidate for the highest political office in the PH, her political opponents were telling the world that she was not a winnable candidate for president.

 

But, once her decision was out, Pink Revolution erupted spontaneously throughout the country.  (I think I was the first one to use the phrase Pink Revolution. I used it for the first time in this column).

Mrs. Robredo was not fully aware of what was happening around the country where pink was becoming a movement. In fact, VP Leni, if you recall, was wearing blue blouse when she made her offer to run on that October day. My question, then, was whether the nationwide excitement of the Pink Revolution could be sustained? The four months that followed are now history.

It was not only sustained. It became bigger and more intense by the day. And more believers and followers emerged.

Her rallies in the last two months are being attended by tens of thousands.

 

Google released a recent trends survey. In all regions but one of the PH, VP Leni got the largest number of interests from searchers.

Bloomberg, in a recent survey of PH business firms placed VP Leni on a distant first place among all presidential candidates believed to be able to manage and handle PH economic recovery.

Listening to VP Leni's campaign speeches could be one big reason why Filipinos have rallied to her side. She tells the people, in Pilipino, how she intends to govern. That she will lead by example. She can identify with the people and vice versa.

As a fellow opinion columnist said in part in his column in Rappler, "This is the quiet power of  It is simply the Vice President being at her best: someone who “sees” those who were left behind. And they flock to see her because she came “from” them, lived a life “serving” them, and will always be “with” them. This is hope you cannot fake. This is empathy you cannot manufacture."