RE-ELECTIONIST Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri has been officially dropped from the senatorial slate of Vice President Leni Robredo and running mate Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan for openly endorsing the presidential bid of former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos.Jr.
“His open endorsement of another presidential candidate, in contravention of the agreement with all guest candidates, led to this decision,” Robredo’s spokesman Ibarra Gutierrez said yesterday.
Zubiri has also been removed from the Senate slate of the tandem of Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson and Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, also for endorsing Marcos.
Gutierrez said with just 12 days before the elections, their “Tropang Angat” is “moving forward with our 11-candidate Senate slate.”
Robredo’s supporters have been calling for Zubiri’s removal from the opposition leader’s Senate slate after he called Marcos “our president.”
While he has not attended a single campaign sortie of the Robredo-Pangilinan tandem, Zubiri has been frequently present in Marcos’ sorties.
Robredo yesterday attended the “Leniwanag sa Baliwag,” the people’s rally of North Bulacan, held at the Star Arena in Baliuag.
Robredo was scheduled to attend and deliver her message last night to the The grand rally, “Republika 2.0 Tindig ng Bulakenyo,” was organized by Gov. Daniel Fernando and RPC Bulacan.
HECKLED
A group of volunteers campaigning for Robredo yesterday denounced the heckling of her youngest daughter Jillian at the Baguio City Public Market, saying it is obviously part of a “coordinated operation” by a group supporting another candidate.
“This unfortunate incident has put the people of Baguio, particularly the Igorots, in a bad light. It has given the impression that those who are not from the city are not welcome, when in fact Baguio is a tourist destination,” said the One Baguio-Benguet Robredo People’s Council (OBB-RPO) in a Facebook post.
The incident happened at around 3 p.m. on Tuesday when Jillian and the volunteers went on a market walk to campaign for her mother in the country’s summer capital which is a part of the “Solid North,” a group of Ilocandia provinces said to be supporting Marcos who is from Ilocos Norte.
Jillian has been campaigning in the Solid North region for the past few days, including Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, and La Trinidad. She also visited Batanes last Monday.
“While the group was walking in the public market, an unknown individual started shouting at the group. That person started screaming at the group, telling them, ‘Huwag kayong humarang!’” the OBB-RPO said.
The group said the verbal attacks were “unprovoked and the edited-spliced videos that show otherwise do not indicate what truly happened.”
They said a Robredo volunteer tried to pacify the man and some even tried to apologize for causing any inconvenience “but he screamed even louder, “Dayuhan a lang dito! Kami Igorot kami! (You’re just a visitor here! We’re Igorots!”
Jillian and the group refused to engage the man and left the public market where one of the vendors followed them and apologized. “That apology speaks more of the residents of Baguio City than the actions of that individual who made the daughter of the Vice President unwelcome,” the volunteers said.
The group said the same thing happened to re-electionist Sen. Risa Hontiveros when she visited the city last December “and it is unfortunate that it happened again to Ms. Jillian.”
The OBB-RPC said the house-to-house and “tao sa tao (man to man” campaigns are done “to engage all people kindly and with an open heart, whether or not they support VP Leni or not.”
“Contrary to the posts online, she and the volunteers did their best to approach market-goers without being a bother to others,” the OBB-RPC said.
The youth representatives told Jillian that “Baguio is for everyone, and you are very much welcome dito sa (here in) Baguio.”
MAGALONG APOLOGIZES
The Vice President’s youngest daughter was warmly received yesterday by Mayor Benjamin Magalong and youth volunteers of Benguet at the University of Cordilleras.
In a statement, Magalong apologized for the incident, saying “Baguio folk, regardless of ethnic roots, are generally friendly, ever-smiling, and hospitable to visitors and guests.”
“This is why it is with deep regrets that the city officialdom extends sincere apology to Ms. Jillian Robredo, daughter of our esteemed Vice President and presidential candidate Leni Robredo, over the unfortunate heckling incident at our public market, while visiting the place,” he said.
“We are sorry that incidents like this took place. Rudeness has never been a standard conduct of Baguio folks. We can assure Ms. Robredo that such a physical outburst is not representative of Baguio’s legendary hospitable conduct, especially to visitors and guests.
As a favorite tourist destination, our citizens are by and large amiable, warm, and sincere in their ways,” the Mayor added.
In her short speech, Jillian encouraged the youth volunteers to continue the fight, to be patient, and to remain respectful to the people they encounter. She mentioned the spread of spliced videos online which she said victimize many.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the NBI started investigating fabricated lewd videos spreading online, even before Jillian’s sisters, Patricia and Aika, formally asked the NBI for a probe.
“The cybercrime division is now working on it,” he said adding those behind the lewd fake videos face criminal charges like “gender-based sexual harassment under Republic Act 11313 or the Safe Spaces Act.”
Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker Mujiv Hataman, a Robredo supporter, said the “historic decision” of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, through the United Bangsamoro Justice Party, to back Robredo’s presidential bid “is a vote for peace and progress in a large area of Mindanao that for centuries has eluded both.”
Hataman said the MILF’s unprecedented move will have the “great impact on the future of this successful peace project in this once-troubled land (Mindanao).”
He said MILF’s support for Robredo will have a “domino effect” on the vice president’s local campaign in Mindanao because of the organization’s influence not only in BARMM but on the whole island. — With Ashzel Hachero
