Robredo stands by Pangilinan ‘until the very end’ amid ‘RoSa’ campaign (Sabong News)

Although she respects the decision of some of her supporters to vote for presidential daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte as her successor, Vice President Leni Robredo on Thursday, March 24, maintained that there is no other running mate for her but Senator Francis ‘Kiko’ Pangilinan. Robredo, the leader of the opposition, said she will be in tandem with the senator “from the very start until now, until the very end.” “Hindi maiiwasan, hindi lang naman ngayon eleksyon pero kahit na mga nakaraang eleksyon, may mga supporters na iba ‘yung choices, iba yung pinupush na mga (It can’t be prevented, not only this election but during past elections, there are supporters who have different choices, they’re pushing for differrent) combinations pero (but) as far as I’m concerned, as far as ‘yung (the) official campaign structure is concerned, ang aking (my) vice president until the very end is Kiko Pangilinan,” she said. The Vice President attended a press conference with former House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, an ally of President Duterte, whose party, Partido Reporma, endorsed her presidential bid. Talks of a Robredo-Sara (RoSa) tandem has gained traction this week after congressmen Joey Salceda and Rufus Gutierrez and Zamboanga City Mayor Beng Climaco publicly announced their support for Robredo and Duterte-Carpio. READ: It is not clear if Partido Reporma, which only endorsed Robredo, will also go with Mayor Sara or will maintain its endorsement of Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III. Earlier, presidential candidate Senator Panfilo Lacson resigned from the party because it decided to withdraw its endorsement from him and go for Robredo instead. On Thursday, Robredo went to Davao region to attend a people’s rally in Digos City. She said this isn’t the first time she went into what many considers to be a Duterte country because she had many programs in the province in the past six years. “During the pandemic, we have been helping a lot of hospitals in the Davao region. Iyon sunod-sunod na sakuna (The continuous crisis), whether bagyo o mga lindol, parati kami nagpapadala ng teams dito (typhoons or earthquakes, we always send teams here) to do the relief operations,” she added. Meanwhile, former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who is running for senator under the Robredo-Pangilinan tandem, expressed confidence that deviations from the main campaign are “irrelevant.” READ: “Ang pinaka-strength (The strength) of Leni campaign is Leni herself. So, she has transformed into the symbol of this revolution, the pink revolution or this movement for change,” he said during an interview with One News on Wednesday, March 23. These deviations include not only the RoSa movement, but also the inclusion of the Makabayan bloc in Robredo’s campaign, as well as the endorsement by opposition coalition 1Sambayan of former Rep. Neri Colmenares’ candidacy.