Tears and Fears and Leni-Kiko’s ‘Abonados’*
/*Abonado: one who forks out money for a not-for-profit venture
When seniors can't go house-to house for Leni Kiko, they pass the hat for give-aways. (Photo by Rochit Tañedo)
A tubful of Leni tarps, pink rosaries, ballers, komiks and T-shirts! I told myself, get a grip! Get out of your Omicron funk and give away these souvenirs! So to get my body started, I joined the EDSA People Power Anniversary on February 25. Huge mistake! Standing amidst the crowd for an hour, I was losing my balance. The ubiquitous Kakampink thespian Mitch Valdez said it for me, near tears: “Akala ko ba magre-‘retire’ na ako, Ba’t nandito pa rin tayo? (I thought I was retiring, but why am I still here?),” referring to Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.’s daunting lead in the surveys. I headed for home in the dark. As I put one foot in front of the other, I began to understand why more and more of my friends were having a knee or hip replacements.
Youth Volunteer Joel Marasigan of onion farmers group put pink camisas on scarecrows. (Photo by Rochit Tañedo)
In the meantime, the Iloilo rally proved to be a monster hit, following Naga, Quezon City, and Cebu, with 40,000 showing up for Leni! Days later, on March 4, Cavite, where the Marcos loyalist Remullas have reigned since the 1970s, surpassed Iloilo with 47,000 attendees in General Trias, despite roadblocks, electricity, and broadband interruptions by the local government unit. An outraged Crispin “Boying” Remulla quickly accused the Leni camp on nationwide TV of paying the attendees P500 each, and within minutes #BoyingSinungaling (Liar) went viral on Twitter.
A week later, in Bacolod, thousands walked for hours to the rally site when bus reservations were suddenly canceled. Transforming the fabled Masskara Festival into a garish pageantry of pink, Bacolod pulled out all the stops for Leni with a whopping 80,000 in attendance! Indeed, too many monster Leni-Kiko rallies were passing me by. And linking up with local Kakampink volunteers in the aftermath only intensified my FOMO overload. Still, when #PasigLaban on Emerald Avenue was announced for March 20, I had to say, “Pass.”
But immediately, Kakampink volunteers called to confirm that big Leni rallies were about to happen in Cabanatuan on March 22 and Tarlac on March 23 . With updates putting NCR-Metro Manila on Alert Level 1 for Covid, provincial buses were allowed to operate again. I could finally travel after two long years.
Still highly charged with adrenaline by just watching #PasigLaban outdo all the previous mammoth Leni rallies with a 140,000 crowd size, I happily ventured northward to Nueva Ecija where my bestie, Divinia “Neneng “ Lacanilao, a leader for Team Leni Robredo (TLR) for Talavera town could dispose of the Leni giveaways quickly.
On March 21, I accompanied Neneng as TLR Leader, eager to know what it takes to mount a big Leni-Kiko rally. A crowd size of 25,000 was the TLR’s target, but the huge running track behind Nueva Ecija High School that could contain 80,000 was the only venue available. “That number is already quite ambitious; not at all modest!” they all said of the expected outcome. For didn't Leni Robredo lose miserably in Nueva Ecija to Marcos, Jr in 2016? And to their horror, just days before, the pro-Marcos, Jr. Governor Aurelio Umali gave away “ayuda” of one half sack of rice, a stub for groceries, and Php500 to all participants in the Marcos, Jr-Sara Duterte rally. “Just a coincidence,” Gov. Umali brazenly said. “This ayuda (Covid subsidy for the poor) had been planned many months ago.”
First stop: The Leni HQ in Cabanatuan
“We’ve been very busy in the last two months,” the women tell me. They and the youth come regularly to pack and distribute tarps and giveaways, going from house to house when needed. Today, they are packing hundreds of giant fuchsia headbands to distinguish their group from the other delegations. Pink buntings, banners, and tarps bundled in the hundreds are neatly laid out on the floor for pick-up by various teams.
Two weeks prior, I listened in on a NE TLR Zoom meeting briefly. There was a steady increase in recruits, the leaders agreed. However, said recruits were not willing to do house-to house campaigning for fear of reprisal from their respective mayors who had declared their support for Marcos, Jr.-Duterte. For Talavera and adjacent towns, Neneng reported that the biggest Leni influencers were the parish priests who had made their stand clear, way before Bishop Virgilio “Ambo” David, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference gave his blessings to the flock to take “a stand for principled politics” in late January. People from all walks of life, teachers, civil servants, laborers, church groups, but mostly the youth, GenXYZ , put in time, recruiting TLR members with gusto. They conveyed messages from doctors, lawyers, small business owners they met who were asking what else they could contribute for “aNEhan” People’s Rally on March 22.
A month prior, the Robredo People’s Council from Main Headquarters in Metro Manila was ticking all the boxes: venue; stage; lights and sounds; security; parking; medics; food and water stations; etc. In a last-minute Zoom at 8:00 p.m., Neneng worried that the ongoing carpentry for the aNEhan stage was inadequate and only half-serious.
March 22, early morning: Neneng monitors the first Leni-Kiko rally in San Jose town on her cellphone. There are seven other towns to be visited by either Leni or Kiko or together; a mini rally, as it were, hosted by the mayor. Another TLR leader is monitoring the choreography: one group will meet Kiko Pangilinan at a certain bridge and another will welcome Leni from the opposite side of town a half-hour later.
By 8:30 a.m. we are in Talavera town where 3,000 electric cooperative members--farmers in pink T-shirts -- are gathered in a huge assembly hall, throbbing with Leni jingles. VP candidate Kiko Pangilinan arrives at 9:30 to cheers from the crowd.
Kiko, clearly delighted, says his mother was born in Nueva Ecija and quickly recounts how a recent typhoon nearly wiped out his vegetable farm in Alfonso, Cavite. “Kapag sinabi ko na naiintindihan ko ang magsasaka, meron po akong resibo (When I say I understand the farmer, I have the receipt for it)!” he says, proudly waving his Senate Bill: The Sagip Saka Act that mandates LGUs to buy produce directly from farmers to lower food prices while allowing them some savings for the next crop.
“Lahat tayo magugutom kung walang suporta ang Gobyerno (We will all go hungry without the Government’s support)!" he says. He segues to Gobyernong Tapat (Trustworthy Government) with Leni Robredo as President will ensure investments for food security: “Suportahan ang food producers, tama na ang “importation (Support the food producers, enough of importation)! Hello Pagkain, Goodbye Gutom (Hello Food, Goodbye Hunger)! Kaya natin (We can do it)!”
Then the inevitable swipe at the debate absentee enemy, Marcos, Jr.: “Kami po, nanliligaw sa inyo. Tatlo po yung anak kong dalaga, Kung may manliligaw, di ba, dapat lang na magpakita? Bilang paggalang sa inyo, di po ba? Kayo na po ang sumagot (We come here like suitors, asking for your daughter’s hand. Mustn’t suitors show up and show some respect)?” The audience comes alive and chants “Kiko! Kiko!” This time, they are not demanding to see his wife, the movie megastar, Sharon Cuneta. Kiko Pangilinan walks the talk.
Like clockwork, a ponytailed, masked Leni Robredo in black pants, pink top and wedges arrives at 10:30 amidst screams and outstretched hands, which she eagerly touches. Some women are close to tears. A fancy dance number to the bouncy “Kay Leni Tayo (We’re for Leni)” jingle by Nica Del Rosario cues her entry onstage. More cheers and chants of “Leni! Leni! Leni!” A mere wave from her gets the crowd on its feet. She connects quickly by saying her younger brother had served in the same cooperative for many years, and that she worked as a public defender for farmers. The crowd listens, quite mesmerized as she recounts the outcomes of the Office of the Vice President’s Angat Buhay projects she started in Nueva Ecija right after the big typhoons. “Natatandaan nyo po yung ginawa nating shelter… etc. (Do you remember the shelter we made)?” “Oo (Yes)!” The crowd replies. So there. The woman who had lost miserably to Marcos, Jr. in Nueva Ecija had come back many times afterwards to initiate various projects. More chanting from the youth of “Leni Kiko! Leni Kiko,” and off they go to visit five more towns. The farmer-audience disperses quietly, as teams begin to clear the hall of paper cups from the Lugaw (Porridge) breakfast.
Neneng then heads to a parking lot midtown where Food Committee members unload in systematic fashion the food packs and bottled water for the rally front-liners. At 3:00 p.m., tricycle drivers seeing the youth carrying the fancy food packs, stop and ask for some. Neneng shares with the first lucky dozen, and then another.
TLR "abonados" load hundreds of lunch packs for the big day. (Photo by Rochit Tañedo)
We finally arrive at the site. Pounding Leni jingles perk up the heavy human traffic. The Cabanatuan People’s rally is tagged “aNEhan,” meaning “harvest” and also “bountiful.” Upon seeing the stage, one leader loudly remarks with unmistakable Novo Ecijano candor: “Ay siya! Anu ba yan (Ugh! What is that)?” aghast at the unambitious stage design. It is a failed attempt at a giant papier mache carabao head (black) hung in the center of the stage roof with a few winnowing trays (brown bilao [bamboo-slat trays]) on either side as an afterthought. Bountiful? Not.
Nonetheless, at exactly 4:00 p.m., with one fourth of the quadrangle filled, the inimitable LGBTQ+ duo of Ogie Diaz and Mama Loi, the nation’s hottest YouTube stars for movie fans, begins to work the crowd in 40-degree heat.
The inimitable duo of Ogie Diaz and Mama Loi is the team to beat in the Leni-Kiko mammoth rallies.
How do these pros handle a crowd in a Leni-Kiko rally that lasts from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.? By thinking on their feet and keeping a very disciplined pace. Ogie Diaz and Mama Loi know exactly how to respond to the electric atmosphere of a crowd big enough for a rock concert; always with grace and humor sans the infuriating decibel levels and innumerable “Ayan (There)!” that is the staple of noontime shows.
“Hoy, Drone!” Ogie flatly calls out to the drone camera hovering above. “Diyan ka lang , huwag kang pumunta ng Indonesia (Stay there, don’t go to Indonesia)!” and the Gen XYZ crowd roars with laughter. They clearly share Ogie Diaz’s “viral” speak; what has been trending on social media about the recent monster Leni-Kiko rallies. Ogie is referring to the enemy’s sloppy Photoshopping of foreign (Indonesian) crowds onto photos of its rally attendances. At another time, said enemy’s trolls went on a rampage online, saying the drone shots of the Leni crowd were of red onions and not people. So, when the drone camera dives lower for a crowd shot, Ogie merely declares in his deadpan manner: “Ay, sibuyas daw, o (Oh, they’re supposedly onions).” For Ogie Diaz, less is more, but he can drive the mood into a frenzy. The youth wave their pink banners and lustily chant: “Hindi Kami Bayad!” “Hindi Kami Bayad! (We Are Not Paid)” over and over. Never given to needling the enemy more than once every hour, Ogie and Loi merely hint at, but never attack the fake news the enemy spreads about crowd size. Vulgar put-downs are not their stock in trade.
After a few song numbers from local talents and popular bands like Itchyworms and Rivermaya, which have the GenXYZ happily singing along, and the seniors quite lost, the duo calls on the senatorial candidates one by one.
Atty. Fhilip Sawali, holding a Leila De Lima carton, standee gives the most impassioned speech, saying that it’s been 1,800+ days of cruel punishment for the brave Leila who investigated the extrajudicial killings of Duterte’s War on Drugs and the Davao Death Squad. “Justice! for the EJK murder victims, for the media and ABS-CBN, for the West Philippine Sea, which De Lima will fight for!”
Teddy Baguilat, always a standout in his Igorot chieftain’s bahag, bayo-ong draping his torso and dulaw headgear champions indigenous communities and the environment; then Risa Hontiveros with her well modulated spiel on her outstanding Senate Bills; there’s “Kuya Alex Lacson” poor boy who got to Harvard, the only Visayan in the slate; labor lawyer Sonny Matula and the vastly improved Chel Diokno, who connects warmly with the young crowd by talking more about Leni. “Kung keri nyo si Leni, dapat keri nyo rin kami para sa Senado dahil kami ay hindi umaabsent, hindi magnanakaw, at nagbabayad kami ng buwis (If you carry Leni, carry us too for the Senate because we’re never absent, we never steal and we always pay taxes),” he says to wild applause. “Laban , Leni! Laban, Kiko!” rises to a fever pitch. They end their four-minute spiels with a tirade against the enemy and segueing to the Leni-Kiko Gobyernong Tapat slogan.
Aetas from Capas, Tarlac are the caretakers of our environment, says Teddy Baguilat. (Photo by Rochit Tañedo)
Cries from the crowd for "Medic," (ten times!) interrupt song numbers by popular bands. Alas, it is the youth fainting from the heat for they’ve been there since 2:00 p.m. When the mood begins to settle, either Loi or Ogie punches a one-liner with just the perfect timing: "Gobyernong Tapat,"to which the happy crowd gives a thunderous roar: "Angat Buhay Lahat (Uplifted life for all)!!" By sundown, the crowd has doubled in size, a shriek from Mama Loi registers surprise: "Ba't ang dami dami nyo! Ba't kayo nandito (Why are you so numerous! Why are you here)?" and the crowd goes into a deafening frenzy: "Hindi Kami Bayad! Hindi Kami Bayad!" over and over.
Then Neneng commands five males to carry the five scarecrows they spent several nights making. They represent the onion farmers of Talavera. “Tunay ang sibuyas namin, Hindi Photoshop!” sign on each body reads. “Our onions are for real and not Photoshopped.” When the drone camera comes nearer, the boys decide to march forward with the telegenic scarecrows very near the stage.
Local talents like the Doctors for Leni choir and the Sibuyas Festival dancers from Bongabon shine. More film celebrities/Leni volunteers are called onstage to do their bit. When they flub their lines, Ogie casually remarks: “O, baka mag-'viral' ka (Oh, you may go viral)!” and the crowd laughs along. Some celebrities overextend their spiels and some don’t know when to stop dancing. But when the duo comes back and indulges the giddy ones in the crowd for a selfie, the irritation is quickly forgotten.
Night has fallen, and Ogie asks the people at the back, “Kumusta na kayo? Nandiyan pa ba kayo (How are you doing, are you still there)?” “Oo (Yes),” they roar back. “Patingin nga (Let me see)!” and they comply, flashing 40,000 cellphone lights that look like galactic clusters, a perfect shot for the drone camera. Within seconds, Ogie Diaz announces: “As of 7:30 p.m., according to the Philippine National Police , we have a crowd of 50,000! “ The audience roars again: “Hindi kami Bayad! Hindi Kami Bayad!”
Cue MUSIC: Nandito na si Kiko (Kiko is here now)! A video intro from wife Sharon Cuneta is played. She says her husband is, first and foremost, a public servant who has not enriched himself that is why she still has to work, shooting for the seven-year- old series “Probinsyano” in Ilocos Sur. Kiko is fired up. “Stop rice importation and the corruption that goes with it, he cries. He invites Gov. Umali himself to start buying produce directly from the farmers. Whether the LGUs have declared their support for another candidate or not, Leni and Kiko always make it a point to make a courtesy call to the Mayor or Governor. There is one simple rule, the late Amang Rodriguez did say: “Politics is addition.”
Then, cue MUSIC: “Kay Leni Tayo! “ “Narito naaaa (She’s here)!” says the duo! “Handa na ba kayo (Are you ready)?” The music gets louder and the crowd surges even closer to the stage. The youth wildly sing along to the jingle, “ Kay Leni Tayo! Leni Robredo, Oo!” all the pink banners are up and keeping to the beat, while the band goes wild. Then it suddenly stops. It is the rock star herself, VP Leni Robredo.
Vice President Leni Robredo at the Nueva Ecija rally (Source: VP Leni Media Bureau)
“Pinahinto ko muna ang banda kasi yumayanig, umuuga na po itong stage (I had to ask the band to stop because the stage was shaking already)!” ( Neneng is proven right.) Leni goes on: “When I was told that this was the venue, I said: Naku, sobra namang lake! Baka naman mapahiya kame! Kase noong 2016, talong talo po ako dito sa Nueva Ecija ((Oh, it’s too big, we might be embarrassed, because in 2016 we really got beat in Nueva Ecija)!!” Leni pronounces her “i” with “e” all throughout. But the crowd responds with a deafening roar: “Babawi Kami! Babawi Kami! Babawi Kami! (We will pay back!)” Leni reminds the crowd: “Forty-eight days to election day. “Kailangan pa nating magbahay-bahay at magkumbinsi. Kakayanin ba nating ipanalo ito (Just 48 days to go and we still need to go house to house and convince the undecided. Can we still win this election)?” Then another deafening response: “Walang Solid North! Walang Solid North (There’s no Solid North! There’s no Solid North)!”
I glance at fellow seniors who have been on their feet for the last four hours, and they are tearing up. By 9:00 p.m. #NuevaEcijaIsPink has gone viral.
Tarlac City, March 23
10:00 a.m., Gerona Town
“Our mini rally was very short notice!” explains TLR Team Leader Bert Arciaga, sunburnt from weeks of house-to house campaigning. They informed Mayor Eloy Eclar, got the local lights and sounds supplier, and put tarps on the tricycles, bought a nice bouquet for Leni, and prepped the parking space fronting the public market. Leni and Kiko had visited Capas earlier, then Gerona, then Moncada, plus two more towns. As Bert and his team huddle to finalize pick-up points for the mini-buses for tonight’s rally, the Bagong Lipunan hymn of the enemy blares in the background. In 48 hours, the LGUs can officially campaign, according to law, and the scuttlebutt is that the Gerona LGU might go with the enemy.
3:00 p.m., Tarlac City
For the Tarlac Leni Volunteers, it isn’t so much trying to match any crowd size but just getting the Puso ng Tarlac people’s rally moving forward. Just days ago, it was bedlam as Mayor Cristy Angeles , recently turned Marcos, Jr. supporter, tried to put a spanner in the works by changing the traffic routes in the city.
For an entire month the TLR team had blasted social media, saying the Puso ng Tarlac Rally would be held in Maria Cristina Park on the Capitol grounds. But just days before, Gov. Susan Yap declared the venue unsafe because the sunken garden was surrounded by tall buildings and therefore, a security risk.
While Mayor Cristy agreed on Aquino Blvd. Riverside in Bgy. Cutcut as the venue, she changed the rally entry routes several times, throwing the logistics into chaos. One day before the event, she finally agreed to open the main road, F. Tañedo St. that runs parallel to the venue, but only for 30 minutes. Vexations of that sort kept Myra Salvosa and her TLR Team in high anxiety. The huge pink heart-shaped stage meant for emcees and candidates to better engage the crowd had become unstable; the sound system cables were reportedly grounded from yesterday’s rain. But by 3:00 p.m. of March 23, the 2km stretch from McArthur Highway to the San Sebastian Cathedral is packed with a noisy pink-clad crowd, waving pink banners, flashing the “L” sign and shouting, “Leni, Leni Leni!” Fancily garbed LGBTQI+ gangs, obviously prepared for the event, rain pink confetti on passersby, lending a festival atmosphere.
Indeed, the sound system, just a tad louder than the irritating neighborhood karaoke, is a major faux pas. But the crowd just gets thicker and and thicker. The “Robredocs” (Doctors for Leni) are onstage. GenXYZ will not be ignored. Their dance moves featuring a lot of gymnastics took many weeks to practice. At 5:00 p.m. it begins to rain, but the crowd stays. Seeing that, senatorial candidates drive the energy notches higher. “Sino ang ating susunod na Pangulo (Who will be the next President)?” “Leni! Leni! Leni!” The drenched crowd cries. “Sino ang Bise Presidente (Who is the next Vice President)”? “Kiko Kiko Kiko!”
6:30p.m. It is officially announced: “We have a crowd of 40,000!”
Again, chants of “ Hindi kami bayad!” from the youth. The Leni-Kiko volunteers clutch their face masks in disbelief.
Above the din, Kiko Pangilinan can be heard haranguing the crowd: “Kapag sinabi naming Gobyernong Tapat yun ay dahil si Leni at Kiko ay walang bahid ng katiwalian! May resibo kami, hindi fake news (When we say Leni and Kiko don’t have a stain of corruption, we have receipts; it’s not fake news)!” “Resibo! Resibo! Resibo!” the crowd chants back. He thanks the TLR organizers, the “Abonados for Leni-Kiko,” the organizers/funders of the Puso ng Tarlac rally, including the “friendly” mayors of the province. The Tarlac crowd begins to chant: “Walang Cristy!” (No to Mayor Cristy!)
Senator Kiko Pangilinan (Photo by Rochit Tañedo)
Normally there is just a quick song to settle the crowd for the grand entrance of the main attraction, but Ogie and Mama Loi suddenly announces: “Nandito si Kris Aquino (Kris Aquino is here)!” and the crowd goes wild. For months, the visibly emaciated “Queen of Talk” has not been seen although she has unrelentingly kept her Instagram followers glued to her romantic break-up and autoimmune disease. Thus, seeing her onstage with her two very tall sons catches everyone by surprise. In her inimitable way, she quips, “Para doon sa mga excited na makitang mamatay na ako (For those who are excited to see me near death)!”
“Thank you to Jesse Robredo and to Leni for taking good care of me during Pnoy’s campaign,” Kris goes on and on about that Pnoy campaign in 2010, and then back to herself: “Kasi marunong akong tumanaw ng utang ng loob, di tulad ng iba diyan. Buwisit na buwisit talaga ako (Because I know how to honor a debt of gratitude, not like others who really piss me off)!!” “Walang Cristy, Walang Cristy!” The crowd chants again. She has taken 10 minutes way longer than Kiko’s speech to explain why Leni, and her pivotal role in it .
“Sorry, I can’t go out campaigning, but I have a surprise for you!” And in comes the activist-movie star Angel Locsin. Wild applause. Angel is midway into her spiel about how voters must be more discerning, as they should about their “ka-relasyon (relationships),” when Kris butts in again to direct the narrative to herself and her lovers. Haltingly, she allows Angel Locsin to finish her spiel. Then she introduces the star of the show: VP Leni Robredo. Kris doesn’t stop. She talks about herself again for another seven minutes. The trans TLR leader behind me says: “Akala ko ba malubha na siya. Bakit ang daldal pa rin (I thought she was in serious condition already. Why is she still such a chatterbox)?” Kris clearly misses having a talk show and treats this as one, sans the discipline of a time-out for commercials.
VP Leni, gracious as ever, thanks Kris’ sisters who are all present, and the organizers whom she calls her “Abonados,” the Youth for Leni, the Lawyers, Doctors, Mumshies LGBTQ, and OFWs, and pronouncing her “i” as “e.” “Umulan na pero hindi kayo umaales! Pawes na pawes! Pero hindi pa tayo tapos. Ipaalam pa natin sa iba na kailangan malines ang Lider. May Resibo (It’s raining and you’re still here. Sweating hard. But you’re not done. We tell everyone, a leader must be clean, must have receipts)!”
Tarlac City: Trust the Youth Volunteers to do as the farmers request.
Indeed, Leni knows her projects in each province like the palm of her hand. “Nanalo ako dito sa Tarlac noong 2016, baguhan, wala pang gaanong resibo, pero sa anim na taong binigay ninyo (I won here in Tarlac in 2016, a newbie with only a few receipts), I can look you in the eye and say I have fulfilled your mandate! 48 days to go, kaya pa ba ninyong mag-pawes uli para ipanalo natin ito (can you still sweat it out towards victory)?”
Pandemonium!
“Leni, Kiko. Leni, Kiko! Leni, Kiko!”
Then the official headcount: “As of 8:30, we have 45,000!”
Tarlac City "Abonados" were very much surprised by the crowd size of 45,000. .
The seniors wind their way to the exit, but 20,000 youth are about to party! “Hey-Hey-Hey Hey!” the familiar riffs from the popular band, Rivermaya begin and the energy explodes as they all sing “Liwanag sa Dilim”.
The crowd spills out into F. Tañedo St. and the town plaza where about 1,000 Marcos, Jr.-Sara followers await their ayuda. “ We couldn’t leave,” they feebly explain. We’ve been here since afternoon, and watched all the videos they told us to, but they will not give the ‘ayuda’ until 11:00PM”, say the women.
Meanwhile, the TLR Volunteers huddled inside McDonald’s, near the stage, counting food packs, unloading bags of T-shirts, wipe their tears. They give a thumbs up as we leave. They will be feeding 200 more tonight after dismantling the stage, and cleaning up the venue for tomorrow’s traffic.
Rochit I. Tañedo, freelance writer and foodie wannabe from Gerona, Tarlac hopes to get re-acquainted with her hometown and fears for its future now that plans are afoot to build an SM Mall on the highway.
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