They volunteered to take to the streets of Tacloban for Leni Robredo, in a city described as enemy territory to the Kakampink camp.
These 12 youngsters are going house to house as volunteers and, even more intense, in serving a commitment to protect their future.
Interestingly, these 12 Leni volunteers all come from Tolosa, Leyte, the hometown of Marcos Jr.'s mother, former First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos.
The general expectation is that Leyte will deliver the votes for Marcos Jr. even better than Ilocos Norte can.
This is based on the assumption that the Romualdez family has absolute control of the aggregate political climate in the province that even its traditional political nemesis, Ikot Petilla, has declared support for Marcos Jr.
Remains Poor
Yet, many but muffled voters are not sleeping and the big youth vote is starting to surface.
People attribute the San Juanico Bridge to Marcos so may nabulig gihap, but this failed to lift thousands of Leyteños from poverty.
That the dawn of the youth spark emanated from Tolosa town should not be a big surprise. While Imelda Marcos claims to be from that town, Tolosa has remained very poor and overtaken by progress in the neighboring towns of Dulag and Tanauan.
According to the volunteers, they were motivated to speak out after seeing how the youth in other areas in the region and in the country are crowding mammoth rallies and braving the streets in rallies and lead in person-to-person campaigning.
A testimonial by families they talked to, the youth realized that the fight for Leni is not a lonely fight, not even in Leyte.
“Most are not vocal to avoid catching the attention of the powerful Romualdez family, but they know who to vote for and that’s Leni,” Atty. Beunaventura Go-Soco, said.
Kulay Rosas Pilipinas
Go-Soco is the local chair of the Kulay Rosas Pilipinas, a national movement for Leni organized by OpinYon headman Ray Junia. He is a Taclobanon. Go-Soco, who was one of the Top Ten passers of the bar examinations during his time, was also a former Regional Director of the National Economic and Development Authority.
These 12 volunteers is a small spark now starting to catch fire as more start to stream to join the movement. When Leni came to campaign the Leyte rally was held in Palo, not Tacloban.
These twelve from Tolosa are college and senior high school students who offered their day-off from school to distribute flyers, face masks, posters, stickers, and komiks provided by OpinYon Media.
“We are motivated to educate the ordinary people on the true Leni after so much lying and black propaganda against her initiated by the Marcos family,” Go Soco explained.
The volunteers were welcomed by families in the barangays, giving them confidence the future they are working for gets the support of the majority, Go Soco added.
“Mayda iba nga na diri pag karawat kay BBM kuno hira. Pero mas damo an gin welcome kami na umabot to the point that sumigi hira magbutang kami hin posters ni leni ha ira mismo balay,” a volunteer said.
We Take A Stand
Picking up from OpinYon slogan, “We Take A Stand," Leyte’s youth stands for good governance and uncorrupted leadership that they believe fit the character of the only woman presidential candidate, Leni Robredo.
The youth in Leyte are no longer coy and unafraid to speak out. But at times they are careful not to earn the ire of the Romualdezes by holding whispering campaigns. They promised to make efforts to educate parents, some still blinded by the misinformation or blind loyalty to a family whose claim to helping the province is nothing but a figment of imagination if not a calculated lie.
They are calling on parents, mothers specially, to think of their children and their children’s children when they vote come May 9. This election is to choose what future our children will have.
That the youth are storming the streets to open eyes of parents could not have come more timely, as in few days we decide what will happen to our country.