Re-electionist Senator Leila M. de Lima heaped praises on her surrogates or proxies for excellently representing her and communicating her advocacies and platforms to the people during campaign sorties.
De Lima, who is running under the Robredo-Pangilinan ticket, has nothing but good words for Atty. Fhillip “Petong” Sawali, Atty. Dino De Leon, Rep. Tom Villarin, Prof. Socorro Reyes, Comm. Heidi Mendoza, Atty. Aleta Tolentino, Ms. Zena Bernardo, and her brother Vicboy de Lima.
“So proud of my surrogates at the rallies – Petong, Dino, Cong. Tom, Prof. Soc, Comm. Heidi, Atty. Aleta, Ms. Zena. And my brother Vicboy. High energy. Fired up. Gung ho. They know and feel, first hand, the intensity of my struggles and spirit to endure and overcome. They simply cannot fake and suppress their passion, on stage,” she said.
De Lima, who cannot physically attend campaign rallies, earlier shared that aside from releasing regular “Dispatches from Crame”, she relies heavily on her surrogates to mount a strong campaign from detention.
Through her campaign team, De Lima shared that they reached out and reconnected with friends and supporters who helped them in the 2016 elections, to help them reach out to base voters.
De Lima’s surrogates have consistently received great feedback for their outstanding representation of De Lima during campaign sorties, the recent of which was during the PasigLaban para sa Tropa People’s Rally along Emerald Avenue, Pasig City last March 20 attended by De Leon.
Notably, people took to Twitter to express their admiration for De Leon, who is also De Lima’s spokesperson and one of her legal counsels.
“Atty. Dino de Leon, representing Sen. Leila de Lima, IMHO, delivered the best speech of the night. And TBH, I would have wanted to hear more speeches like this from other candidates esp those whose experiences are advocacy-driven…” one said.
“Ang powerful ng speech ni Dino De Leon in behalf of Leila [d]e Lima,” another added.
“… ANG SOLID NI DINO DE LEON… TINDIG BALAHIBO FROM EJK TO WPS TO MARCOS DICTATORSHIP!!! THIS IS WHAT AN OPPOSITION SPEECH SHOULD SOUND LIKE!!!” another netizen chimed in.
The most notable line during De Leon’s speech, which was heavily quoted by netizens, was when he said that “Ang sigaw ni Leila de Lima, HUSTISYA! Para sa malawakang patayan sa ilalim ni Duterte… Para sa lahat ng mga pang-aapi sa mga Lumad at pambabastos sa mga kababaihan, HUSTISYA!”
Netizens also lauded Sawali, De Lima’s Chief of Staff and Deputy Campaign Manager, during the Robredo-Pangilinan tandem’s rally in Bacolod, Negros Occidental via Tweet: “Effective na public speaker si Atty. Sawali on behalf of Sen. Leila de Lima. Ang lakas at buo ng boses; hindi ka aantukin. #BacolodIsPink.”
“Leila de Lima’s Chief of Staff is such as effective speaker and rabble-rouser. Sana he gets more opportunity to speak on behalf of @SenLeiladeLima”, posted by another netizen.
Despite her continued unjust detention that prevents her from physically attending rallies, De Lima has already filed 692 bills and resolutions since being elected in office in 2016.
Some of those De Lima had authored which have been enacted into law include the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) Institutionalization Act, Magna Carta of the Poor Act and the National Commission of Senior Citizens Act. (30)