In the Philippines, grass-roots campaign takes on the Marcos juggernaut
VALENZUELA CITY, Philippines — In the final stretch of the Philippines’ pivotal presidential election, the underdog campaign is mobilizing public flash mobs, a “truth army” to fight online disinformation, and door-knocking by pink-shirted volunteers inspired by the candidate’s stay-positive philosophy.
On Monday, they and the country will see whether the effort has given Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo enough momentum to overtake front-runner Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son of the late dictator.
Robredo has faced a tough fight from the start. Her young canvassers have been heckled and even had water dumped on them as they’ve sought voters’ support. During one group’s recent foray into a low-income neighborhood in this city just north of the capital, only a few people asked for campaign literature, and from behind a closed door, a woman called out that the canvassers shouldn’t even bother knocking: “We’re solid Marcos here.”
But although Robredo was still a distant second last month in polling by Pulse Asia, her numbers were up eight percentage points from earlier in the year. A surge in the final weeks could still make the election competitive — and prevent the Marcos family from returning to power.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/06/philippines-election-leni-robredo-marcos/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWJpZCI6IjE1MDA3NzU3IiwicmVhc29uIjoiZ2lmdCIsIm5iZiI6MTY1MTk5MDMzMSwiaXNzIjoic3Vic2NyaXB0aW9ucyIsImV4cCI6MTY1MzE5OTkzMSwiaWF0IjoxNjUxOTkwMzMxLCJqdGkiOiI2NDlmNTAyMy1lM2QwLTRlOGMtODVhZS02MzNiYmQ1Mzc2ZmUiLCJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy53YXNoaW5ndG9ucG9zdC5jb20vd29ybGQvMjAyMi8wNS8wNi9waGlsaXBwaW5lcy1lbGVjdGlvbi1sZW5pLXJvYnJlZG8tbWFyY29zLyJ9.LQOysAZKAYo4orsXekGpw9rJFLGpGsNNrkEWG_gC4vY