200 vehicles join Cebu for Leni caravan in Cebu City

By: Delta Dyrecka Letigio - 3 years ago

The Cebu for Leni caravan, a surprising turnout of supporters | Contributed photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Two hundred (200) vehicles joined the Cebu for Leni Caravan in Cebu City on Saturday, a surprising twist to the simple motorcade planned by its organizers to support the Presidential bid of Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo.

Mark Angelo Noble, who spoke for the coalition of multi-sectoral groups that spearheaded the Cebu for Leni Caravan, said initially they only planned around 80 cars in two different routes so as to follow the guidelines of the Cebu City government, which was 40 cars per route.

However, as they gathered around noon, more supporters turned up at the two routes, that ended up meeting at the Fuente Osmeña Circle from the northern part and southern parts of the city.

“We were amazed and overwhelmed by the turnout sa atong caravan. Many vehicles turned up sa atong caravan. As we all know in 2016, Leni actually won here in Cebu so we are happy to see the people’s support,” said Noble.

The growing coalition of multisectoral groups said they aimed to strengthen conversations as to why VP Leni Robredo is the best Presidential candidate.

The group is setting its sights on highlighting the VP’s accomplishments especially in areas of disaster and pandemic relief, fiscal management, and good governance.

Representatives from different sectors in Cebu including lawyers, healthcare workers, human resource practitioners, BPO employees, business owners, women’s organizations, LGBTQIA+ members, civil societies, and the youth, participated in the caravan that kicked off at the Redemptorist Church and went around Cebu City following two routes, going North and South, before making their final stop at the Fuente Osmeña Circle.

“The participation of different sectors in the caravan is a clear manifestation of one thing: the people are tired of the same system of politics and they want to change. VP Leni Robredo represents our hopes for better governance and a truly pro-people administration,” said Lawyer Jay Pujanes, spokesperson for the initiative.

High profile Cebuano lawyer Amando Virgil Ligutan, who joined the caravan with other lawyers as well, said the caravan shows the initiative of different individuals from all walks of life who believe in Robredo.

“This started from a small group chat on Facebook. Now, we are here. We are one in our support for Leni Robredo. We stand for change. We stand for accountability of the powers that be. We stand for truth, for human rights, for press freedom. We’re showing the whole country that Cebu is for Leni Robredo,” he said.

The Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) said that as much as they only limited the number of vehicles in the caravan to a minimum, they could not control any other supporters not registered to simply join in.

The only appeal of CCTO for these surprise joiners is to follow the traffic regulations and ensure that they will not hamper the flow of traffic.

Paul Gotiong, the spokesperson of CCTO, said the Cebu for Leni caravan has served as a sample for the formulation of the final guidelines for political motorcades. They will release such uniform guidelines soon. /rcg