The woman who could’ve been President continues to inspire legions
This is an excerpt from the MEGA February 2025 cover story
Late last year, as Typhoon Kristine pummeled the Bicol region with relentless rains, Leni Robredo made a plea on social media for the use of trucks and rubber boats to help rescue those trapped in their homes, and relief goods to tide them over. She connected people who needed help to their local governments and linked those who wanted to help with trusted channels. The donations came pouring in, with 28 million pesos raised in just four days.
“This will help fund not just our relief operations but will go a long way as we rebuild our city again,” a grateful Robredo said in a Facebook post.
Hundreds of kilometers away, in Manila, volunteers mobilized at the Angat Buhay offices at the Museo ng Pag-Asa through the night, packing donations of bottles of water, packaged food, medicine, and other necessities to be trucked to Naga.
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Complications arose when the roads into Naga were made impassable due to fallen trees and other debris, but the team on the ground made do with what they had, heading to flooded areas with provisions and hope. Leading the way was Robredo, wading waist-deep in the muddy waters.
“Did it have to be you?” we ask her, months later, as we meet her on the sidelines of the MEGA cover shoot. “Couldn’t you have stayed at mission control, making sure things ran smoothly?”
“I had to go,” she says. “If you were there, if you had seen the need, you would’ve gone, too.”
“It had to be me to inspire the others to do it themselves. A leader must be a role model, a good example to others,” she says. “I couldn’t just stay at headquarters ordering people to do things. I had to do it myself too. It’s not just talk, it’s action.”
Because she went, over a thousand volunteers joined her every day over the next few days, leptospirosis be damned. Wading through snake-infested waters (they didn’t know there were snakes till later, when the waters receded), they went from house to house from sunup to sundown, bringing meals to the hungry, and smiles to the forlorn.
“True leadership is stepping up and showing up, may election man o wala, kandidato man o hindi. Ipinakita ko ito sa tapat na serbisyo (whether or not there’s an election, whether or not I’m a candidate. I show my leadership through honest service),” Robredo said during a forum with the Presidential candidates for the 2022 National Elections, where she was the only female among the nine in attendance, standing tall in a tailored dress of pale pink and high heels.
Many events have transpired following this Presidential debate. And while she may have lost the elections, the passion and fervor she had inspired in her supporters led to the formation of the Angat Buhay NGO, “the biggest volunteer network in our country’s history.”
Read more of Leni Robredo the community builder in MEGA’s February 2025 issue, now available on Readly, Magzter, Press Reader and Zinio.
Photographed by JOSH TOLENTINO. Creative direction by PATRICK TY and BRIE VENTURA. Styled by ROKO ARCEO. Makeup by JANICA CLETO. Hair by DALE MALLARI. Written by YVETTE FERNANDEZ. Production JONES PALTENG. Beauty Direction AGOO AZCUNA BENGZON assisted by MARA GO. Sittings Editors PEEWEE REYES-ISIDRO and STEF JUAN. Fashion Assistant ERICA TEROL. Styling Assistant GISELLE BARNACHEA. Editorial Assistant THESSMAR LECTURA. Photography Assistants TATE BERSALES and ANTON VASQUEZ. Shot on location at PIONEER X STUDIO. Special thanks to AICA DIOQUINTO, APPLE VALLANTA, AND RONA RESNGIT