Robredo endorses De Lima’s House bid during Naga City sortie
WOMEN POWER. Former Senator and now first nominee of Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Leila De Lima looks on at former Vice President Leni Robredo, who is gunning for the mayoral post of Naga City in the May polls, as they were greeted by local vendors at the Naga City People’s Mall Saturday, March 15. PHOTO BY GRACE LUCILA, INQUIRER INTERN
NAGA CITY — In a press conference at the Naga City People’s Mall Saturday, March 15, former Vice President and now mayoral candidate of this city in the coming May polls Leni Robredo has endorsed Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Party-list and its first nominee former Senator Leila de Lima.
De Lima, staunch critic of former President Rodrigo Duterte and his bloody drug war, was in Albay and Camarines Sur since Thursday, March 13, to head ML’s community engagements.
READ: Dutertes crying for due process? Recall De Lima’s ordeal, says Robredo
“I will vote for Mamamayang Liberal not because I am Liberal, [I will vote for them] because Leila De Lima is the First Nominee,” Robredo said.
She also assured the public that ML was not made just for the sake of securing a spot in the government.
ML party-list has been existent since 2012 but was only accredited by the Commissions on Elections (Comelec) last year.
“The Liberals are not just a political party. It’s an organization of non-politicians, representatives of marginalized sector who bring their agenda to those communities,” Robredo said.
City residents chanted “Leni!” and “Leila!” as they welcomed Robredo and De Lima, a native of Iriga City, into the city’s business district.
Victim of Duterte
CONNECTION. Former Senator and now first nominee of Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Leila De Lima connects with a local resident in an emotional exchange at the Naga City People’s Mall Saturday, March 15. PHOTO BY GRACE LUCILA, INQUIRER INTERN
During the a hour talk in Legazpi City last Thursday, the former senator also recounted her journey as a victim of the Duterte administration’s lies which put her in prison for 2,454 days.
“I was put under massive character assassination, vilification, vicious misogynistic attacks including slut-shaming,” she recalled. De Lima was jailed in 2017.
When asked about what she felt about Duterte being arrested by the International Criminal Court (ICC), de Lima said that she has always believed the time will come when the former president would have to face his crimes.
The former senator added that she had “mixed feelings of ecstasy and jubilation” that justice is finally being served to the victims.
“I’ve been hoping and praying for this to happen. In fact as early as July of last year, we already had information that Duterte’s warrant of arrest is coming,” de Lima said.
“I never doubted that I will be free, that I will be absolved of all cases against me, because truth is on my side. Now, I am truly free,” the former senator, who hails from Iriga City, Camarines Sur, said.
Bicol agri
SUPPORTER. Former Vice President and now mayoral candidate Leni Robredo bends down to speak to a resident of Naga City Saturday, March 15, when she and former Senator and now first nominee of Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Leila De Lima visted the public market. PHOTO BY GRACE LUCILA, INQUIRER INTERN
In Legazpi City Thursday, (ML) Partylist presented their goal to boost youth participation in Bicol’s agriculture sector.
Partylist third representative and former House deputy speaker Erin Tañada explained that there is a need for the youth to be better encouraged to pursue careers related to agriculture, despite its reputation of being the “lowest form of employment.”
In the Bicol region, it is estimated that there is a total of 384,801 farms, with more than 550,000 farmers recorded by the Department of Agriculture as part of the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture in 2023.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority 2022 Census of Agriculture and Fisheries, the youth only take up 8.9 percent of the total agricultural operators, with the older age groups (50 and above) accounting for nearly half, proving that senior citizens make up majority of the agriculture sector workforce.
“If we do not act on this problem, our agricultural lands will be targets of conversion. Not only will people and families lose their lands, but it will affect our food security,” Tañada said.
