Reyes, Jerickson A.

Advanced Bar Exam Technique

2019-12807-MN-0 28 March 2022

For a better Philippines, Maria Leonor (“Leni”) Gerona Robredo is my

May 9, 2022 President!

Exactly 42 days before the most awaited May 9, 2022 election, the
tirades and disinformation are expected to intensify. For almost 6 years, Vice
President Leni Robredo (VP Leni) was a victim of fake news, vilifications,
trolling, bashing, and others which are many to mention by President
Duterte’s supporters, minions, BBM troll farms, and sadly our fellow Filipino
supporter who were victims of disinformation and historical revisionism.
Words and narratives that even it is not true become the talk of the town.
But VP Leni knew better. She faced all these remarks with finesse, civility,
and good manners and consistently working. She continued to prove that
she deserved to be the Vice President and hopefully if the Filipino people and
God Almighty permits, the 17th President of the Republic of the Philippines.

Before we go to the details as to why I am voting for her this coming

election, I will briefly state the life of VP Leni before she becomes the Vice
President and now, a candidate for the highest position of the land, the
Presidency. Maria Leoner Gerona Robredo was a housewife of the late DILG
Jesse M. Robredo and a mother to her three (3) lovely, responsible and
beautiful daughters. Before entering politics, she worked as a lawyer
focusing on legal developmental work and providing legal assistance to
marginalized clients. She first entered public office as representative of
Camarines Sur’s third congressional district in 2013, less than a year after
the death of her husband. In her lone term in the House of Representatives,
VP Leni principally authored three bills that were signed into law, including
the Tax Incentives Management and Transparency Act. Now, she is currently
serving as the 14th Vice President of the Philippines. Her office has garnered
the highest audit rating from the Commission on Audit for three consecutive
years (2018-2020). Her advocacy is clearly manifested in many programs of
the Office of the Vice President (OVP), particularly Angat Buhay, the flagship
anti-poverty program of the OVP which brings together the private and
public sectors to address the needs of families and communities in the
farthest and poorest areas of the country. The program covers food security
and nutrition, housing and resettlement, public education, rural
development, universal health care, and women empowerment.

VP Leni has also led numerous relief operations through the OVP. The
same office manages a comprehensive pandemic response program that
offers a range of assistance projects such as free transportation services to
front liners, free teleconsultation services nationwide, handling logistics and
manpower to transmit vaccine supply from the national government task
force to local government units and vaccine express sites in partnership with
LGUs.

To be honest, I am once a non-believer of her capability to lead, I

didn’t vote for her last 2016 election, and to add-up, I proudly voted
Ferdinand “Bong-Bong” Marcos Jr. because of Sen. Mirriam Defensor’s
endorsement. I didn’t vote for her simply because she’s a nobody, a
housewife, only banking on Liberal Party’s machinery and will eventually
become a puppet of the oligarchs. I was so firmed that she will do nothing
significant just like any other Vice President. However, I was slapped by her
consistent performance, receipts of her accomplishments, and testimonies
from different walks of life. Despite all of the black propaganda,”fakenews”
and many other derogatory word thrown at her, VP Leni consistently perform
beyond the mandate of her office. Nothing was grand with her projects, yes,
but they were effective, efficient, and accessible – a sign that she
understands what the people in the grassroots, most especially, need.

Truly, this pandemic presented that indeed we need a systematic,

effective and compassionate leader in order to fast-track our nation’s
recovery. Thus, we need a leader who is ready to serve and not to be
served. VP Leni, being a lawyer and before becoming a politician, was
working with non-government organizations that defend the rights of
workers, farmers, women, and other marginalized groups. This experience
has obviously grounded her in terms of human rights, and the situation and
needs of ordinary Filipinos. She uses this grounding in the performance of
her work as Vice-President and it shows.

In these uncertain times, the president we need is someone who

enjoys and will continue to enjoy the goodwill of the international
community. As COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc worldwide, countries are
experiencing major challenges and the Philippines are among those in the
worst situation. Our country’s economy is at its lowest and the pandemic is
still ravaging us, the next president’s term will be very difficult. We will need
the help of the international community to be able to fight the pandemic
better, pick up the pieces, and start to recover from this devastation. Having
established that, we cannot give our future to those applicants who have a
history of corruption, enabler of the Duterte’s, historical revisionism, being
fakenews peddlers, among many other things.

Hence, on May 9, 2022 I will vote for a systematic, data-driven,

effective and participative leadership and governance who focuses and hears
the suggestions and concerns of the ordinary Filipino people and who
provided results on these kinds of parameters. I will vote for VP Leni G.
Robredo, not just for myself and my family but for other Filipino people who
are less in life and vulnerable to societal injustice so that opportunities for
them will be more realistic, inclusive, and genuine. To end this, my appeal to
my fellow Filipino people is this, on May 9, 2022, Election Day; I hope that
we will find time to exercise our constitutional right, our right to vote. Vote
with your conscience, vote wisely.