Robredo will be first president from Bicol in 2022 — Drilon

President Benigno S. Aquino III leads the inaugural drive-through of the Widened Pili Diversion Road together with Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson and LP Vice Presidential Candidate Camarines Sur 3rd District Representative Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo during the inauguration ceremony in Pili, Camarines Sur on Friday (February 12, 2016). (Photo by Rolando Mailo / Malacañang Photo Bureau)

NAGA CITY - Vote for Leni Robredo as vice president in 2016 and by 2022, the next president will come from the Bicol region.

This was the pitch of Senate President Franklin Drilon to Bicolanos who gathered Friday at the Plaza Quezon in this city as the Liberal Party-led Daang Matuwid coalition barnstormed the Bicol region.

"Sana ipahiram niyo muna sa amin si Cong. Leni at sa 2022, may Pangulo na manggagaling sa CamSur kung tutulungan niyo kami," Drilon, a reelectionist senator, told the crowd.

Robredo, who hails from Naga City, is running for vice president alongside Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer Manuel "Mar" Roxas II.

The 51-year-old widow of former interior secretary Jesse Robredo is the incumbent representative the third district of Camarines Sur in the House of Representatives.

Robredo challenged the Villafuerte dynasty in the 2013 elections due to the sudden public clamor that emerged following the death of her husband in a plane crash in Masbate. Jesse was mayor of Naga City before his appointment to the DILG in 2010.

Naga City is the last stop of the LP-led Daang Matuwid coalition in the province of Camarines Sur. The city has 85,473 voters according to the Commission on Elections.

Leni said the Naga sortie serves as her send-off. The administration party kicked-off its campaign on Monday in Capiz, the home province of Roxas.

"I think parang nagpapaalam kami sa kaniya-kaniya naming mga bahay na samahan ninyo kami sa laban na ito kasi kayo yung pamilya namin," Leni said.

Naga Mayor John Bongat also asked Nagueños to support their very own.

In an earlier interview, Bongat said Naga will be “100 percent” behind the administration coalition, citing also the close ties of the late Robredo and LP standard bearer Roxas. — APG, GMA News