ILOILO City – There is a whiff of panic in the air about the rising people’s support for Vice President and leading opposition presidential candidate Leni Robredo whose campaign sorties continue to draw a huge sea of supporters and volunteers, according to Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon.
“I am surprised. To be candid, I have not seen this crowd and passion since 1986 when Cory Aquino came into power. This is already a movement. This is phenomenal. This is beyond political affiliations,” Drilon said.
The Robredo campaign sorties with running mate Sen. Francis Pangilinan have been generating huge and record numbers of attendees. Around 40,000 attended in Iloilo, 45,000 in Cavite, and 75,000 in Bacolod City, by far the biggest rally this election.
The veteran senator of 24 years believed that this mammoth crowd sent Robredo’s opponents panicking.
“They are in a panic mode. The Oplan Baklas, the allegation of the crowd as hakot, the accusation that VP Robredo is supported by the communist group, these are clear indications that they are panicking,” Drilon said.
Drilon is confident that Robredo’s numbers in the upcoming surveys will reflect the huge crowds that her campaign sorties generate in various parts of the country.
“The effect of the huge rallies, I respectfully submit, are not yet reflected in the surveys done,” he said. “The fieldwork was done before all of these rallies were conducted.”
Meanwhile, Drilon said what the country indeed needs today is a lawyer and economist as he reiterates his warning of an impending perfect economic storm that can arise from the coronavirus pandemic and the astronomical increase in the prices of fuel products.
“The next President should be a lawyer and an economist. VP Robredo is a lawyer. She is also an economist. This is what we need today. A lot of questions have been raised today about our judicial system. Therefore, we need somebody who could restore the confidence of the people in the rule of law which is so essential to our democracy,” he said.
Drilon added: “Given our very difficult economic situation which I have said is a perfect economic storm, the President must be able to have a grasp of these substantive aspects of governance in order to govern effectively.”/PN
