Robredo ‘happy’ for endorsements, will continue to strengthen her campaign (Sabong News)

Vice President Leni Robredo expects more endorsements to come her way in the last 40 days to Election Day, though she emphasized that her campaign’s strength comes from the volunteers who are “very passionate” and “invested.” During a media interview by the seaside in Brgy. San Jose in Sogod, Southern Leyte, the Vice President shared that many local officials and political parties have quietly reached out to her campaign team. However, she didn’t want to name names because she wants them to come up with the announcement themselves. “Para sa atin, hanggang hindi nagpapahayag, hindi tayo umaasa doon kasi mas gusto natin na kung ano ‘yung meron tayo ngayon ‘yun ‘yung gamitin natin na lakas ng kampanya (But for us, until they announce, we are not going to pin our hopes there because we want that whatever we have now, that’s what we’re going to use for our campaign),” Robredo said on Wednesday, March 30. She added that the “biggest blessing” to her campaign are the volunteers who organized themselves and did their own initiatives without prodding from the campaign headquarters. In fact, Robredo wants to link these groups to the national campaign headquarters so they can be better organized and help in the “trajectory” of the campaign. Her volunteers have been a “big help” since there are only 40 days to go before Election Day. Despite the low turnout of attendees to her rallies in Leyte compared to Eastern Samar on Tuesday, March 29, the Vice President remained confident because the turnout is more than she expected. In Palo, Ormoc, and Biliran, Robredo had already expected the worst because of the lack of help from local officials. “Pero (But) unexpectedly pagpunta namin may mga (when we went, there are) organized groups na na ‘yun ‘yung (that’s the) opportunity and ‘yung balak talaga namin (that’s what we plan that) we will build on that,” the Vice President said, adding that they are happy with the “developments” in her campaign. READ: In her three-day visit to Eastern Visayas, Robredo received endorsements from Northern Samar and Eastern Samar local executives. Before leaving the province, Robredo and Pangilinan held a dialogue with fisherfolk community in Sogod. The aspiring president was supposed to visit Sogod in December when the typhoon hit and her team advised her against pushing through it. The fisherfolk there was one of the hardest hit by Typhoon Odette, and one of the beneficiaries of the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) Angat Buhay projects. But more than relief goods, Robredo said they worked to provide them livelihood assistance and housing materials to build back their homes. “Pero ang amin lang po, kaya po sinasadya namin– kaya sinasadya namin kayo kasi gusto po namin iparamdam sa inyo na hindi kayo kinakalimutan (But for us, we intentionally went here because we want to make you feel that we don’t forget about you),” she told the community there. “Gusto po naming iparamdam sa inyo na kung ano ‘yung tulong na kinakailangan para magaanan kayo sa inyong pinagdadaanan, ay nandiyan po kami (We want to make you feel that whatever help you need to ease your burdens, we are here),” the Vice President added.