‘…I still couldn’t help but be, well, pleasantly surprised that Robin knew just the right words to say to the people who filled the Barotac Nuevo auditorium to the rafters.’
FOR business reasons, I found myself in the “pink city” of Iloilo last February 23, a city I last visited in March of 2020, a few days before the country was first subjected to a lockdown. I was happy that I was returning to a city that had less stringent travel requirements (applying for the S-Pass was an interesting experience), and that the Courtyard by Marriott was still operating (they never closed, Ivan Yap of the front desk assured me).
It was only when I got to the Iloilo International Airport at Sta. Barbara that I realized I was arriving in a city and a province that would, just a few hours later, be hosting big rallies for Vice President Leni Robredo and former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the former at the Iloilo City itself and the latter in two venues, the Iloilo Convention Center (a stone’s throw away from the Marriott) and in Barotac Nuevo.
Up to that day I had yet to see a rally, and as luck would have it, I was given a front row seat for the Barotac Nuevo rally courtesy of the office of former Cong. Ferjenel Biron.
It was there that I had a chance to watch Robin Padilla speak before a huge crowd. Immediately I wondered to myself, was Robin aka Utol going to discuss policy?
After the roar of the crowd had died down following his introduction, Robin took the mike, sang a few bars of a song, and I said to myself I was right in not expecting much. But then he sort of proved me wrong.
The first thing he did after telling the crowd his name was to introduce the four other senatorial candidates from the Uniteam who were already onstage — and explain why they deserved the public’s vote. Bistek had a track record of service; Win Gatchalian was a tireless senator; Jinggoy Estrada was a friend who helped give him a break in life, while Rodante Marcoleta would take on giants like ABS-CBN on behalf of the Filipino people.
I was listening.
That was only when he turned to himself — “Filipino po, Muslim at iisa lang ang asawa!” he said to the roar of the crowd. He then explained, “Guest candidate lang po ako dito. Sa totoo lang po kandidato po ako ng PDP Laban. Pero nu’ng nag-desisyon po ang partido na hindi magpatakbo ng kandidato sa pagka-pangulo, naiwan po ako sa ere” is how he put it, or something to that effect.
Then be continued: “Lumapit po ako kay Bongbong Marcos na kaibigan ko pong personal at hindi po kaibigan sa pulitika. Magkaiba po ‘yun — kasi ang kaibigan sa pulitika bukas pwedeng iwanan ka.
“Ang sabi po sa akin ni BBM, dito ka na lang tumakbo sa amin bilang guest candidate. Kami na lang tutulong sa iyo. At ganun na nga po ang nangyari kaya po ako nandito ngayon.”
He wasn’t done: “Ganyan po ang katauhan ng ating susunod na pangulo, si Bongbong Marcos — isang tunay na kaibigang personal, Hindi ka iiwanan. Kaya po wag po natin kalimutan iboto si Bongbong Marcos para sa pagka-pangulo at si Sara Duterte para sa pagka-bise presidente. At ako rin po, si Robin Padilla, at ang buong UniTeam.”
The auditorium erupted in applause and cheers. And I couldn’t but smile to myself.
For sure one can think and say that Robin cannot be judged by one speech alone. True, but then we should also stop mocking other politicians for a slip or two they make when they deliver a few words during some occasion, yes, as if that one slip marked who they were.
Knowing that, I still couldn’t help but be, well, pleasantly surprised that Robin knew just the right words to say to the people who filled the Barotac Nuevo auditorium to the rafters.
Sans a script, he talked to them, not talked down to them. He came across as authentic and (if the cheers of the crowd were to be of any gauge) even lovable. He was able to identify with them, and not just acknowledge them.
That is Robin’s appeal.
How he will fare once seated is another matter altogether — but the folksy appeal that he has and that he wields so effectively on the stump looks more and more like what will get him into the Senate in the first place.
