Vice President Leni Robredo has garnered more support for her presidential bid, this time from hundreds of respected education leaders, university professors, and former National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) employees.
A joint statement was penned on Wednesday by former officials of the Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education (CHEd), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), as well as heads of top universities in the country, to declare their support for Leni.
“We make this determination following scrutiny of the various candidates’ track record as servant leaders, their proposed plans for education, and, more importantly, their character as individuals,” they said.
“We take this stand consistent with our responsibility to ensure that academic institutions serve as safe spaces for discussion and truth-telling while reminding our fellow educational leaders how our schools and universities served as bastions of truth during the years of the dictatorship,” they added.
Among the signees were ex-CHEd chairpersons Patricia Licuanan, Ester Garcia, and Angel Alcala, former Education secretaries Bro. Armin Luistro FSC and Fe Hidalgo, as well as former TESDA director General Edicio de la Torre.
They were joined by current and former presidents and heads of the University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, Adamson University, University of Cebu, Ateneo de Zamboanga University, Xavier University, Saint Louis University, University of the Immaculate Conception, among others.
In a separate statement, at least 400 faculty members of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) endorsed Leni for president, in what volunteer group Thomasians for Leni called “a first” in the 400-year history of the Catholic university.
They said they have thrown their support behind Leni since she “aspires for a leadership that clearly espouses and exemplifies” the values of Thomasian education, namely, competence, commitment, and compassion.
According to the group, Leni has also been promoting advocacies on life, freedom, justice, and solidarity in the service of the family, community, Church, and environment, while showing respect for a person’s dignity regardless of race, religion, age, and gender.
“Our country is at crossroads. We are in a critical period of our history,” they said.
“We need a competent, committed, and compassionate leadership to rise above these troubling times; to overcome health and economic challenges; to revive the respect for human dignity; to achieve moral restoration; to champion truth, justice and peace,” the professors added.
Over 500 former and retired officials and employees of NEDA also declared support for the opposition bet, saying she is the “only candidate with a clear platform” for inclusivity, poverty reduction, effective delivery of services, transparent public financial management, and good governance.
These include respected individuals who served at the Commission on Population and Development, National Statistical Coordination Board, Philippine Institute for Development Studies, and the Philippine Statistical Authority, formerly National Statistics Office.
They lauded Leni for demonstrating honest, decent, and competent leadership even before she announced her candidacy for president.
Previously, top Philippine economists, including five ex-NEDA chiefs Ernesto Pernia, Winnie Monsod, Cielito Habito, Dante Canlas, and Emmanuel Esguerra, also backed her presidential bid.
Among the other prominent economists supporting Robredo are former Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas deputy governor Diwa Guinigundo and Marikina 2nd District Representative Stella Quimbo.
Robredo is enjoying an outpouring from influential individuals like former senators, Constitution framers, past Philippine Bar Association presidents and lawyers, religious groups, and human rights defenders.
Bongbong Marcos is still leading pre-election surveys, the latest of which was the OCTA Research Group’s presidential poll.
The majority or 55 percent of the survey’s 1,200 adult respondents said they would vote for Marcos if elections were held on 12 to 17 February, while only 15 percent said they would vote for Leni.
She was trailed by Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso (11 percent), Senator Manny Pacquiao (10 percent), and Senator Ping Lacson (3 percent).
