Vice President Leni Robredo visited Baguio City on December 6, with motorcades and supporters welcoming her and blazing the roads in a trail of pink.
Robredo first greeted the city during the flag ceremony held at the City Hall grounds.
“When my team tried to arrange for a courtesy call with the mayor, we were instead invited to attend the flag ceremony. I was hesitant because as a presidential candidate it might be intrusive,” she said, addressing city Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong.
The vice president recalled how as a child she had come to Baguio often and how after her late husband Jesse Robredo , who was the DILG secretary then, died in a plane crash, she and her daughters spent the Christmas holiday in the city.
“So Baguio has been a haven for us,” she said.
But she said it was her first time to stand in city hall and she expounded on how heartwarming that frontliners were honoured at the beginning of the ceremony.
“I am giving tribute to the men and women who helped and help the city fight the pandemic,” she said.
She said that despite her initial hesitation, she was glad to get the opportunity to thank the men and women behind all the successes that Baguio City has achieved over the years. “Thank you for welcoming us in this way,” she said.
She also said that stepping on the city hall grounds made her recall how her husband in his six terms as mayor of Naga was fighting the long and lonely battle for good governance.
“Yung asawa ko po all his life, even when he was DILG secretary, has been pushing for the tenets of good governance like the empowerment of the ordinary Filipino, transparency and accountability,” she said.
Saying that Magalong and her husband were friends, she said that now she sees parallelisms between Naga and Baguio under the leadership of Magalong.
She claimed that in her talk with Magalong, they did not mention their candidacies but rather of their frustrations with politics and many other things that were roadblocks in their quest for good governance.
She expressed happiness over the fact that both cities did not have the tendency to have violent politics and that vote buying was not rampant and hoped that it would stay that way in the years to come.
She also mentioned how she often badgered Magalong for the lessons learned in Baguio.
“And in fact, kinukulit ko si Mayor Benjie about the lessons here at tinetext ko siya nang tinetext about it na turuan naman kami, and Mayor Benjie has been so selfless in sharing with us ‘yung models – yung models ninyo dito sa Baguio,” she said, mentioning that Baguio was one of the models in the fight against the pandemic.
Robredo had come to the city to attend a wedding of one of the directors of the office of the Vice President, Atty. Paulo Salvosa, but had decided to come a day earlier to engage with all the groups that have been helping them.
“So I’m excited, I’m excited for what will happen today. I will be meeting a lot of many different groups. I’m excited also to thank the many groups who have been helping us, “ she said.
Robredo also gave a talk at the University of the Cordilleras and the rest of the afternoon was spent visiting the Good Shepherd, blessing of the Leni-Kiko headquarters at the Hotel Villa owned by Baguio entrepreneur Ellen Lao, interaction with Chef Peachy Waya of Tropang Lugaw.
Her Tuesday, December 7 schedule includes a courtesy call to Bishop Victor Barnuevo; a meet and greet with residents at the St. Louis University together with former Ifugao representative Teddy Baguilat and a representative of Senator Leila de Lima, and a visit to the Philippine Military Academy.