SAMASA alumni urge Leni Robredo to run for president in Eleksyon 2022

Alumni of a campus-based political party at the University of the Philippines on Wednesday joined calls for Vice President Leni Robredo to run for President in Eleksyon 2022.

In a statement, the alumni association of the Samahan ng Mag-aaral para sa Sambayanan (SAMASA) said Robredo’s leadership was needed to rebuild for effective and efficient government.

“Robredo has the proven experience, resourcefulness, compassion and strong work ethic that will enable the country to get out of this crisis,” SAMASA Alumni Association Director Nona Andaya-Castillo said in a statement.

“Filipinos must unite behind Robredo to ensure that the country won’t have to endure another six more years under the same cabal or their poor copies," she added.

SAMASA was formed 40 years ago in UP and opposed Marcos.

Among the UP Diliman student council chairpersons who ran under SAMASA are Robredo's partymate in the Liberal Party Senator Francis Pangilinan and her spokesman Barry Gutierrez.

Also among SAMASA's student chairpersons are journalist Malou Mangahas and the late Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary general Lean Alejandro.

SAMASA is the third group to call on Robredo to run for President in 2022 after LENI Urban Poor and Women for Leni.

Robredo has said she was open to seeking the Presidency, but that the opposition should only unite behind one candidate even if it is not necessarily her.

She has been ranking sixth in pre-election polls among possible 2022 Presidential candidates, but her spokesperson Barry Gutierrez has said they are confident that the Vice President’s numbers will pick up in the event she decides to pursue a Presidential bid. —NB, GMA News