Robredo: Lugaw for feeding program is standing with the poor’s fight vs. poverty

Vice President and presidential aspirant Leni Robredo on Saturday defended the distribution of rice porridge or lugaw by her supporters, saying lugaw is a symbol of expressing empathy with the poor.

"'Yung lugaw, symbolic siya in the sense na kaya lang naman yun parang nadikit sa akin kasi nung 2016 na kumakandidato ako wala rin akong resources, 'yung mga volunteers namin ito yung ginawang mga fund raising activities, and yung mga volunteerss ngayon na 2022, yun din yung naassociate nila sa akin. 'Yun yung paraan nila para ipakita yung pakikiisa," Robredo said during the Presidential Interviews by award-winning journalist Jessica Soho.

(Lugaw is symbolic in the sense that it was associated with me because my supporters distributed lugaw as part of their fund raising activities when I ran for Vice President in 2016. The volunteers are doing it again for 2022, and that is their way of standing together with the poor's plight.)

"'Yun yung paraan nila para ipakita sa tao na kaisa niyo kami sa laban na ito," she added.

(Giving lugaw is their way of showing that we stand together in fighting poverty.)

In addition, Robredo said that her being a woman does not mean that her male rivals for the presidential race are braver than she is.

Robredo said that despite the hostile environment under the Duterte administration, she did her best in her short stints as chairperson of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and co-chairperson of the Inter-Agency Council Against Illegal Drugs.

"Tinanggap ko yun, knowing for a fact na parang pumapasok ako sa lion's den. Kung katapangan lang naman ang pag-uusapan Jessica, in many stages of my life, pinakita ko ito," Robredo said.

(I accepted these responsibilities, knowing for a fact that I am entering a lion's den. If it is about being brave, I have shown bravery in many stages of my life.)

"Nawalan ako ng asawa, lumaban ako, nung kumandidato ako bilang congresswoman kalaban ko isa sa pinaka matinding political dynasty sa lugar namin pero lumaban ako, nung lumaban ako bilang Vice President baguhan ako, kalaban ko lahat senador na nakaupo, lahat lalaki, ako lang ang babae, pero nagtagumpay ako. So kung katapangan lang naman, hindi ito nakikita sa gender, nakikita ito kung papaano ka nagdedesisyon sa maraming aspeto ng iyong buhay," she added.

(I lost my husband, I fought back. I ran for congresswoman and went up against a well-entrenched political dynasty. I ran for Vice President and went up against sitting senators, all male. I was victorious. So if it is about bravery, you don't measure that by gender but by the decisions you have made.) — RSJ, GMA News