I had been struggling with this for the longest time and I have to say beforehand na mahal ko at idol ko ang pamilya Robredo, bawat isa sa kanila. Alam ni Mam Leni how much I admire each and every member of her incredible family hence I have been asked so many times why I am not #RoRo as everyone expected.
So let me be my usual honest self here on FB(na alam ko alam din ni Mam Leni) and say na na-disappoint ako talaga nung tumakbo si Mam Leni (kaibigan ko siya sa totoong buhay at dito rin sa FB) hindi dahil sa hindi ako naniniwala sa kakayahan niya( she's a lawyer) or her principles(Sir Jesse always paid tribute to her as the woman behind him) but moreso because of her choice to run for VP with Mar. Yan ang totoo.
Ngayon lang sa FB ko, lumabAs ang post niya About her President being the best choice Kaya just allow me to share why I struggle with this and why I won't vote for any VP when everyone thinks she is the lesser evil choice because she is simple and sincere.
I agree on all those points and laud and love her for it but it doesn't mean that is the best choice for me or for us. We shouldn't settle. I sincerely wished she had said no to Mar then I would've applauded her for it. You see, that was the harder choice to make.
Her choice of Mar says a lot and let me share why it matters to me. Nung buhay pa si Sir Jesse nakakasama ko siya ng dinner tuwing Dec.25 sa Naga dahil mayroon kaming common close friend na nagbbday taon taon. Dun ko siya nakakausap at marami akong alaalA ng mga lessons na natutunan sa kanya kasabay ng mga personal niyang kwento.
Pero nung naging DILG Secretary siya, I knew he'd be in trouble. How could he not be? The one truly honest politician in a sea of dishonest wolves. The first Xmas after he was at the DILG, umiba ang hitsura niya. Mukhang pagod,tumanda. Hindi ako nagulat. Naawa ako sa ginawa nila sa kanya nung bus hostage crisis. Sa kanya binaling ng gobyerno ni Pnoy ang pagsisisi. He humbly apologized and swallowed everything.
Naisip ko noon, nagsimula na ang paninira sa kanya para maalis siya sa pwesto. The following Xmas I saw him I told him to keep strong and that we would pray for him. Hindi ko makalimutan hanggang ngayon ung sinabi niya sa akin. He told me na yes, he needed our prayers.
Di ko makalimutan sinabi niya kung bakit .."Alam mo ba Eva sa purchasing of firetrucks pa lang, kung bibigay ako, isang pirma lang,I get nine million per district." ...
I understood what he was saying. Katulad din ng struggle natin sa pang-araw araw na buhay pagdating sa tama at mali. Mahirap dahil talamak na at ginagawa ng marami. It was normal to just sign and he was struggling all by himself NOT to.
Pagkatapos noong Xmas na yon di na kami masyadong nagkita hanggang nung namatay siya. To be honest, I believed the stories and suspicions that the government did it...that maybe he was assassinated.
Because he was not going with the flow I believed in the possibility. I struggled to accept that the bodyguard lived and he ddn't. Kung buhay siya ngayon, I don't think we would be arguing on who would be President.
So l freaked out when I saw the photo of Mam Leni with the Pnoy people at the wake smiling in front of Sir Jesse's ataul on the national dailies. Inisip ko paano niya kinaya? Naisip ko nun such bad taste dahil ni imbestigasyon kung paano nangyari, walang ginawa sina Pnoy at Mar.
Nung ipinalit si Mar ke Sir Jesse that's where they lost me fully. Walang kaalam alam si Mar sa ganon. He was never a mayor who dealt with local government, policemen,etc. and sure enough, he proved, all by himself, what a disappointment he could be.
Nanghinayang ako. Idol ko siya noon sa DTI kasi dun siya magaling. Months on, nag-fade nalang ang kaso ng pagkamatay ni Sir Jesse pero di ko nakalimutan ung kuwento niya about the firetrucks. Kaya ganon nalang ang pagkagulat ko noong pumayag si Mam Leni. Naisip ko kung ako, alam ko ung kwento ng firetrucks, malamang alam din niya.
So why is she choosing to support the govt that she knows firsthand still supports graft and corruption?
If you know my wall, hindi pa viral noon, I would repost scenes of Mam Leni commuting kasi totoo un, pati si Sir Jesse ganon. Simple, totoo at kakaiba sa nakasanayan ng mga politiko.
Pero how I wished she had said no to running for VP this year on the same premise that as much as I believe in her and Poe's sincerity, learning from Cory (when it shouldve been Doy or Salonga), we shouldn't vote for people based on surnames alone.
I wish she had run for Senator first instead. That experience coupled with her being congresswoman would've made her an absolute choice for me as VP or maybe President in the next elections even.
But for this election, I've always remembered Sir Jesse Robredo's firsthand account and kept in mind his practice about doing what's right and not popular.Integrity when no one was watching. Sir Jesse was truly brave.
Hence I chose Digong for he, like Sir Jesse ,are of the few who are truly brave.One ,standing up against the #silentmajority who just want you to sign blindly and in exchange, give you their full oligarch support.
I want to support someone who is bravely choosing to fight against the establishment so that more people in government wouldnt have to struggle signing like Sir Jesse did.
Doing what's right would be the norm,the popular. Mam Leni I wouldve supported had she been braver-saying no to the party who would continue the corruption, saying no because it's not yet the right time and saying no,I believe, in being the running mate of a man who is , passionately fighting to continue everything that was wrong about the government Sir Jesse struggled to be part of.Eva Marie Poon explained more on her subsequent posts:
Opened my emails and saw the reposts and shares.Hindi natin maiiwasan na mayroong ibang taong sadyang mabababaw at nagiisip lamang na makagawa ng intriga.
Facebook friend ko si Mam Leni and I'd like to believe that our real friendship isn't based on shallow reasons.The post was to explain why I am not for #RoRo and one of the main reasons.
As I said in the beginning of the post idol ko sila...buong pamilya especially after Sir Jesse passed.I cannot imagine what they went through kung ako,super nahirapan din tanggapin.
Kaya if you may well have noticed I didn't post anything for or against Mam Leni out of respect for her throughout this campaign period on my wall. I know she has her own reasons and I expect us both to gracefully agree to disagree.
Kakaunti lang ang mga babaeng iniidolo ko sa Pinas at bibihira kaya mabigat siya sa puso ko kapag nakikita kong nagsisinungaling si Grace,walang awa sa puso si Dinky, walang nagawa si De Lima for the victims of Ampatuan and the like. It took a long time for women to have a voice,equal rights and power so when they put it to waste,nanghihinayang ako.
Kaya ayaw ko din masayang ang maliit kong boses, ayaw kong manahimik lamang. The post is about the struggle about being honest in a government already eaten up by graft and corruption.
Sir Jesse's legacy and Mam Leni's voice I would've appreciated not going to the same group that raised the arms of the Pinedas for politics sake a few weeks ago. For those from Naga, we all know the story of how Sir Jesse chose principles over the establishment that put him there in fighting to make the city what it is now.
Ilan pa ba ang kilala ninyong ganon? I feel we should all use our voices to affirm people like Sir Jesse and Digong so they can be braver because we all know the fight isn't easy.I'm not saying I am absolutely right hence I used the words "I wish" because until she raised Pineda's arm,
I was still hopeful that Mam Leni wouldn't let Sir Jesse's legacy be used by those pretending like they were any close in character to him and that his bravery wouldn't go to naught and be used by snakes hiding in sheeps' skin.
When one has fought hard for a clean name in Philippine politics,one must be careful where we associate this name with. It is the best way I can honor my own personal memory of Sir Jesse...by voting for someone closest to his principles.
Whatever reasons Mam Leni had when she chose to run with Mar, I can and will respect that.It doesn't make me love her less as a person. I just want to be honest and tell the personal story as to why I chose Digong.
Then I can just imagine,in my dreams for a moment,what an incredible country we could've been had Sir Jesse been alive today and he were President. Mam Leni would've been the best First Lady in history ever. #hindiakokasingbabawmo #donotusemywords4yourshallowbrain #thinkofcountryfirstbeforeyou #nomorecorruption
And just awhile ago:
Nakakatuwa pong isipin na nag-e-effort po ang mga silent majority na tirahin ako sa pag-aakalang sinisiraan ko raw ang RORo.Kayo pong nasa FB ko na kilalang-kilala ako,
I'm sure you all know my truth.Kung mag-research din sana sila at puntahan ang nga posts ko kahit nung 5 years ago pa , kahit nung wala pang eleksyon at sa simula't simula ng FB ko-halos araw-araw ako noon magpost ng hirap at hinaing tungkol sa pagsakay ng tren ,pag-post ng muntikang pagtama ng bala sa akin,muntikang pagholdap sa akin ng mga bata at kung ano-ano pa.
Tapos nagtatAka sila bakit ayaw ko na ng Daang Matuwid. Ano pa ba ang kailangan kong sirain?
Realidad lang ng buhay ko ang kaya kong ilagay dito sa FB at hindi siya kaaliw-aliw.Mapahanggang ngayon, ni isa sa kanila, hindi masabing sumasakay sila ng tren katulad ko at natutuwa sila.
Si Sir Lacierda at si Mam Amy, tingin ko hindi rin masasabi un. Kaya siguro never din ako makumbinseng bumoto ng RoRo... Never kasi sila nag-apologize o humingi ng paumanhin sa kapalpakan at pagkukulang or umamin man lang na mayroon talagang malaking problema na kailangan harapin.
Pauwi ako sa Pilipinas at napapraning sa bagahe ko ilang araw na. Ineexplain ko sa mga kamag-anak ko dito sa HK bakit tapos si Mar sinabi sa news na hindi nila un problema?!?!
Ang simple lang ng realidad ng buhay ko at wala akong nakikitang solusyon o paraan na may gagawin pa si Mar in the next 6 years. It never got better the last 6. I can only speak for myself based on my reality.I am not speaking for anyone else.I can barely take the trains now even out of fear of the lines and safety.
I feel no HOPE when I see his attitude on such real issues. Kaya dun ako sa nagbibigay ng kahit kaunting pag-asa na di man niya maayos ito ng lubusan , he will give it one hell of a try. #myrealitymyreason