POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

DANA ANTHONETTE G. VISCA MS. JESSA PLATON

11-REVERENCE (HUMSS)

Maria Leonor Santo Tomas Gerona was born on

April 23, 1965, in Naga, Camarines Sur,
Philippines. She was the first of three children born
to Naga City Regional Trial Court Judge Antonio
Gerona (c. 1933–2013) and Salvacion Santo Tomas
(1936–2020). Robredo attended the basic education
department of the Universidad de Sta. Isabel in
Naga, where she completed her elementary
education in 1978 and her high school education in
1982. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in
Economics from the University of the Philippines School of Economics at UP Diliman in 1986.
She then went on to the University of Nueva Caceres to study law, where she received her law
degree in 1992. In 1997, she passed the bar exams. In order to work as a researcher for the Bicol
River Basin Development Program (BRBDP), a government organization responsible for
integrated area development planning in the three provinces of the Bicol Region, Gerona decided
to temporarily forgo her studies in law. It was here that she met Jesse Robredo, who would later
become her husband. Robredo served in the Public Attorney's Office, where she frequently took
up the defense for cases pursued by her husband, who by then had become Mayor of Naga.
Robredo passed the bar on her second attempt in 1996 and was admitted in May 1997. From
1998 to 2008, Robredo served as the coordinator of Sentro ng Alternatibong Lingap Panligan
(SALIGAN), a Naga-based alternative legal support organization. SALIGAN's mission was to
inspire young attorneys to assume leadership positions, and its work included traveling to remote
rural areas to provide legal services to locals who would not otherwise have access to them. It
also involved engaging in legal advocacy by putting forward changes and new laws based on the
group's recommendations. In addition, Robredo founded the Lakas ng Kababaihan ng Naga
Federation in 1989, an organization that offers training and livelihood opportunities for women.
Later, the group's focus expanded to include aiding rural women in acquiring capital in order to
participate in competitive markets. Robredo was chosen to lead the Liberal Party in Camarines
Sur in 2012.

Leni Robredo, a lawyer and politician from the Philippines who held the office of 14th vice
president from 2016 to 2022, has held a number of foreign, domestic, economic, and social
positions throughout her career. She has backed human rights, ending endo contractualization,
women's rights and empowerment, and pro-poor policies. She has long been a social activist and
human rights attorney. In 2013, she ran for office and won, becoming the province of Camarines
Sur's representative for the third district. She wrote legislation on agrarian reform, human
empowerment, and anti-corruption during her three years in this position. After winning the 2016
election, she took over as vice president. By a slim margin of 263,473 votes, Robredo defeated
Bongbong Marcos, the son of deposed dictator and
kleptocrat Ferdinand Marcos. In her protest, Bongbong
Marcos claimed that her party, the Liberal Party, had rigged
the election. However, the Supreme Court found no
evidence of fraud and even reported that her actual lead
over Marcos was higher at 278.666. Robredo is the second
woman to serve as vice president of the Philippines, after
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and the first vice president from
the Bicol Region.

Robredo supports feminism and equal rights, citing the role of women
in inclusive development. She has repeatedly called for men to respect
women and to stand up against misogyny and bigotry, stating that
inappropriate and tasteless remarks have no place in society. By this,
she clearly supports feminism, which aids in addressing and better
understanding oppressive and unequal gender relations when
determining her political views. It increases opportunities for women
while advancing the goals of justice and equality. True feminism does
not only apply to women; it also benefits men.