I Did Not Vote.

I did not vote for VP Leni Robredo. In fact, I was a Duterte-Cayetano supporter. I would like to believe that I was objective since I called out our president when he made sexist jokes and supported the burial of Marcos. But because I disliked Mar, PNoy and the Liberal Party so much, I automatically disliked Leni and everything she represented, especially the people she affiliated with. This was in 2016.

In 2018, I was already feeling so uncomfortable with having to “defend” our president and have gotten so sick of listening to his ramblings. I had the opportunity to be a researcher for our debate team and our topic was about the West Philippine Sea dispute. This was my turning point. Our own president could not even protect our sovereignty and portrayed such a defeatist attitude. I was disappointed not only in him, but also in myself. Because I banked so much on his promises and he put my hopes up just to crush it. It was a gradual transition, but his stand on the WPS dispute was the last straw for me.

I know it took 2 years, but it’s better than being an avid cult fan until today. The twitter trend is so apt: Kung di ka pa galit, bakit?

Moving forward to January 2020, we were all clamoring for a plan and a strategy to prevent covid from coming into our country, but our calls were unheeded. Until, of course, March 2020 happened. What was preventable and could have been mitigated became a nightmare of outrageous proportions. Duque and our president said we were ready and prepared for COVID but, of course, we were far from prepared. Doctors and healthcare workers were not equipped to battle this because we did not have enough PPEs.

Living in Iligan City, I felt that we would definitely be the last ones they would help because NCR was the hotspot of the virus. My brother-in-law was the only infectious disease specialist in our city and I was so afraid for him. I knew I had to do something. ANYTHING! I tried to contact suppliers in the Philippines, in China, and in the US for PPEs. I also coordinated with other groups and our college for donations. We could not leave our health workers to die just because of our inept and unprepared government. We had to do our part.

I was scrolling through Facebook and I saw all these contact numbers we can reach out to, so I contacted as many as possible. Until I contacted someone who knew Leni Robredo’s daughter. All I did was give my brother-in-law’s name, the hospital name, and the address. It was as simple as that. That was the ONLY time I felt like a high-ranking official, WHO I DID NOT PERSONALLY KNOW and did not have any CONNECTIONS to, would actually LISTEN to an ordinary person like me. Honestly, that floored me. Kaya naman pala? Then I started following Leni and saw how she keeps updating people through her social media accounts. The transparency, the willingness to reach out to those who would normally be ignored unless you know someone in power, and the genuineness. All that hard work, given her very LIMITED budget and powers. KAYA NAMAN PALA kahit walang emergency powers. All these feelings I felt for what she did, I was not able to feel because I was “loyal” to a person, to a party, and to a change I thought could be brought about by one person. We can be so blinded by the good that others do just because we want one person to do so well, even when they keep disappointing you. Hiwalayan mo na.

But just because VP Leni did this, I will not hesitate to call her out if need be. This is only proof that we need to be loyal to our country and our countrymen, and not to people in power. The things that Leni (and may I mention Vico Sotto) is doing are things that SHOULD be expected of a public servant. But because we have gotten so used to mediocrity, we accept the LEAST that our government is doing when they can do so much more. 

Let’s hold our leaders accountable because the policies they push for TODAY will greatly affect our children’s future. 

Cooki Echavez-Trinidad, an environmental advocate and ex-Duterte supporter