Announcement On October 7, 2021, Robredo officially announced her candidacy and later filed her certificate of candidacy for the election. During the
CNN Philippines presidential debate, she explained that she broke her previous vow to not run for the presidency because of
fake news and
disinformation, an enabling of
corruption, and the "politics of the past." In a separate interview, she cited
Bongbong Marcos' candidacy as one of the reasons that pushed her to run. After Robredo announced her presidential candidacy, several sources from the Liberal Party indicated that the party's president, senator
Francis Pangilinan, would be her running mate in her presidential bid. Pangilinan filed his candidacy for vice president a day after Robredo. While Robredo chose to file her candidacy as an independent candidate, despite remaining as the Liberal Party's chairperson, Pangilinan ran as the party's standard-bearer.
Key officials Despite running as an independent, figures from the Liberal Party and its allied parties remained as key participants in her campaign. This included: •
Bam Aquino, former senator, cousin of former president
Benigno Aquino III, campaign manager (
Liberal) •
Erin Tañada, former deputy speaker, senate slate campaign manager •
Barry Gutierrez, spokesperson (
Akbayan)
Branding in
Quezon City, February 13, 2022 in Quezon City, March 1, 2022 ,
Pasig Robredo described her campaign as a "people's campaign," citing her supporters' efforts in organizing her campaign, with rallies organized by local chapters of a volunteer-driven Robredo People's Council (RPC). On its launch, the color her campaign used was
hot pink, to signify "protest and change," and was popularized by 'Dapat si Leni', a group of Robredo supporters. This was a deviation from the bright yellow motif commonly associated with the
Liberals. but was yet to adopt a final theme color when pink was already being used by supporters and associated with Robredo and her campaign. According to Robredo, pink is "the color of a personality that is open, listening, loving and loving." The campaign's supporters adopted the moniker
kakampink, a portmanteau of
kakampi, which is Filipino for "ally", and "pink". On January 11, 2022, Robredo and her campaign team unveiled their campaign tagline, "Gobyernong Tapat, Angat Buhay Lahat" (Honest Government, a Better Life for All). Based on Robredo's Angat Buhay program under the Office of the Vice President, the slogan was made to reflect the campaign's platform of good governance and transparency. Several songs were made for and used by the campaign. The song "Kay Leni Tayo" (We're for Leni) was created for free by Nica del Rosario, Mat Olavides, Jeli Mateo, and Justine Peña. Del Rosario wrote and recorded another song for the campaign, "
Rosas" (Rose), featuring
Gab Pangilinan (Francis Pangilinan's niece), while
Ogie Alcasid released "Handa Ka Na Ba kay Leni" (Are You Ready for Leni). Other songs used in Robredo's campaign rallies included "
Liwanag sa Dilim" (Light in the Dark) by
Rivermaya and "
Alapaap" by the
Eraserheads. Although she had no official hand signs like her opponents, some of her supporters would use the
Laban sign, that was used during the
1978 Interim Batasang Pambansa elections by
Lakas ng Bayan or LABAN, a political party formed by former senator
Ninoy Aquino. The hand signal was also used in the presidential campaign of former presidents Corazon Aquino in 1986 and her son
Benigno Aquino III in 2010. Some say that her hand signal is being associated with the Liberal Party, however this was also used to refer to Robredo's first letter of her nickname. Others would prefer the
Finger heart, a hand signal that was popularized in
South Korea.
Rallies On October 24, 2021, Robredo campaign volunteers held a nationwide "caravan of hope." An estimated 10,000 supporters joined the caravan. On February 8, 2022, Robredo held her proclamation rally in Plaza Quezon in her hometown,
Naga City, Camarines Sur. The proclamation rally was attended by Robredo, Pangilinan, and their senatorial slate. Prior to the proclamation rally, her campaign held a mini-rally in
Libmanan, Camarines Sur. On February 13, 2022, Robredo and her supporters held a campaign rally at the
Quezon Memorial Circle in
Quezon City. The rally, dubbed "Pink Sunday," was attended by at least 20,000 supporters. Due to the sheer number of supporters, the event resulted in a spillover crowd that violated several safety protocols set by the local government. Robredo's camp later apologized for the incident. The following week, Robredo began her campaign in Mindanao with a rally and caravan in
Iligan. Meanwhile, Pangilinan campaigned in
Tarlac with his wife,
Sharon Cuneta. On February 25, Robredo campaigned in
Iloilo, with an estimated crowd of 40,000 joining her at the
Iloilo Sports Complex. On March 2, Robredo campaigned in
Manila, which was followed by a sortie in
Cavite on March 4. On March 20, Robredo's campaign held a rally at
Ortigas Center in
Pasig, dubbed the "PasigLaban grand rally", which became her largest rally at that point. Organizers estimated that 180,000 attended, although the local police countered this with its own estimate placed at 137,000. This hitherto record turnout was later surpassed by the April 9 rally dubbed as "Manalakáran:
Pampanga People's Rally" in
San Fernando, which drew about 220,000. Regional police officials at first denied the organizers' estimate, saying that the venue could only accommodate 70,000 people; later, however, regional police director Matthew Baccay clarified that their 70,000 figure was for security planning purposes only and not meant to indicate audience size. On April 23, Robredo celebrated her 57th birthday at a rally, labeled as a
street party by media outlets, along
Macapagal Boulevard in
Pasay. According to the organizers, they estimated the crowd to have been of 412,000 people, making it the campaign's largest rally at this point. The
National Capital Region Police Office contested the estimate, however, stating that only around 70,000 to 80,000 people attended. Finally, Robredo held her miting de avance in
Makati, which drew 780,000 people, making it the campaign's biggest rally, surging ahead of the Pasay rally's crowd of 412,000. == Polling ==