Robredo failed to capture the hearts of the Bukidnon voters where Sumilao farmers strongly vouched for her

By Edward Era Barbacena

In the whole of Bukidnon, Leni Robredo flanked in second place – is only in Sumilao and the provincial capital, Malaybalay. She ranked third in all other areas, and overall, in the province.

 President- elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. gave  Leni Robredo an embarrassing defeat in Sumilao town in Bukidnon province, where she had helped farmers reclaim their ancestral land as a lawyer in 2007.

Marcos won in Sumilao with 9,516 votes, followed by Robredo who garnered 3,596 votes – a difference of 5,920 votes.

It was an upset win for Marcos in Sumilao, where a small group from an indigenous people’s community marched from Northern Mindanao to Manila again to campaign for Robredo in the presidential race.

 Sumilao farmers end their 40-day walk from Camarines Sur after arriving in Manila Thursday. They travelled 4,400 kms to express support for the pres'l candidacy of VP Leni Robredo, like what they did when she ran for vice presidency.

When they reached the country’s capital on April 28, the farmers joined in some of the huge rallies of the Robredo-Kiko Pangilinan tandem. 

Many years before Robredo was elected to public office, the same group traveled and marched from Sumilao town to Metro Manila to demand their ancestral land. They were received by Robredo and her late husband, then-mayor Jesse Robredo, in Naga City, and the two even marched side by side with them.

Robredo won the vice presidential race in Bukidnon in 2016, where she garnered 211,512 over Marcos’ 127,688 that year. She won in Sumilao that year with 6,258 votes, followed by Marcos with 2,079 votes.

In 2022, Robredo’s best finish in Bukidnon was only in Sumilao and provincial capital Malaybalay, where she also ranked second. She placed third in all other areas, and also overall in the province, behind Senator Many Pacquiao.

Marcos topped the presidential race in Bukidnon where the ruling political dynasty – the Zubiris – declared support for the son of the late president Ferdinand Marcos Sr.. He got 507,566 votes in Bukidnon, while Pacquiao got 129,784 votes, and Robredo, 79,452.

Even the Zubiri family’s political rivals – the Roques – threw their support behind Marcos and his running mate, the now presumptive vice president Sara Duterte.

If there is one factor that led to the obvious defeat of Leni Robredo in Bukidnon and that is the ill-mannered followers who strongly degraded the followers of other candidates. It was too rampant that making such fancy appeals to get the sympathies of the people to vote Leni were not enough for the people of Bukidnon.