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'Barako para kay Leni' saw sharing of free coffee, drinks among supporters

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Wena Cos, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="23-year old Gaddie handing out free water to fellow supporters at Robredo" s="" Batangas="" rally.="" Wena="" ABS-CBN="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/05/01/05012022-gaddie.jpg"/><figcaption>23-year old Gaddie handing out free water to fellow supporters at Robredo&#x27;s Bauan, Batangas rally. <em>Wena Cos, ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>BAUAN, Batangas - Vice President Leni Robredo&#x27;s people&#x27;s campaign often features acts of volunteerism, which the presidential aspirant highlights and thanks for during her speeches. Her rally on Saturday in Batangas showed the same spirit.</p><p>Local haunt for coffee enthusiasts Cafe de Lipa attended Robredo&#x27;s Bauan sortie carrying what seemed to be an unlimited supply of coffee and juice for her supporters. </p><p>As early as 10 a.m. when gates opened, their booth started handing out brewed coffee and ice-cold juice for free. </p><p>&quot;Hindi na po talaga nawalan ng pila, tuluy-tuloy. Kahit mawalan kami ng yelo, at tubig, hihintayin nila na magkaroon ulit,&quot; Linglingay Mercado, wife of Cafe de Lipa&#x27;s president Jose Omar Mercado, said. </p><p>Until the end of Robredo&#x27;s speech around 10 p.m. which concluded the rally aptly called &quot;Barako para kay Leni,&quot; Cafe de Lipa&#x27;s booth was still open and giving out goods to a meters-long queue. </p><p>Despite the demand, the line remained orderly and fast-moving, with Cafe de Lipa and sister-companies staff helping with crowd control. </p><p>Staff in the booth welcomed each supporter warmly. As if in the cafe, a system was in place to deliver the drink of choice to supporters with the deftness and speed of seasoned F&amp;B staff. </p><p>Mercado said Cafe de Lipa staff volunteered for the booth, and also volunteered to do their own house-to-house activity in different areas of Batangas City. </p><p>Giving out free drinks may seem counter-intuitive and bad for a food and beverage business. But Mercado said it&#x27;s the least they can do to mirror the volunteerism they witnessed in Robredo&#x27;s other rallies. </p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Cafe de Lipa handed out free coffee &amp; juice since 10AM until the end of Robredo’s Batangas rally program. Despite the demand, the queue is orderly, recipients happy. Linglingay Mercado said expenses for today is not bad for business but a show of faith for Robredo. <a href="https://twitter.com/ABSCBNNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ABSCBNNews</a> <a href="https://t.co/LatcvLx69X">pic.twitter.com/LatcvLx69X</a></p>— Wena Cos (@wenacos) <a href="https://twitter.com/wenacos/status/1520459945103093760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2022</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>&quot;Abonado naman po talaga. Pero kung ito &#x27;yung magagawa namin para sa bayan, para mas maraming makumbinsing bumoto, then ito na po &#x27;yung ambag namin,&quot; Mercado said.</p><p>&quot;Inspiring sa aming lahat &#x27;yung mga rallies na nagdaan at &#x27;yung ginawa ng mga ibang volunteers,&quot; she added.</p><p>Beside the Cafe de Lipa booth was a mobile food stall of CDO. Batangas and Valenzuela are homes to the Filipino meat-processing company, with plants in Malvar and Paso de Blas. </p><p>CDO is not among the brands that have declared support for Robredo publicly. But it gave out free rice and cooked products to supporters who came to the Bauan rally with no food. </p><p>It was only at 9 p.m. when they closed shop.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="A CDO mobile food stall at the Catalina Lake Residences, which closed at 9 p.m. after giving out free food since 10 a.m. for Robredo" s="" Batangas="" rally="" on="" April="" Wena="" ABS-CBN="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/05/01/05012022-cdo.jpg"/><figcaption>A CDO mobile food stall at the Catalina Lake Residences, which closed at 9 p.m. after giving out free food since 10 a.m. for Robredo&#x27;s Bauan, Batangas rally on Saturday, April 30, 2022. <em>Wena Cos, ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Gaddie, 23 years old, was at the Catalina Lake Residences as soon as gates were opened, and has been handing out free water to fellow supporters who pass by their parked car, the back of which was filled with packs of bottled water.</p><p>By 3 p.m., their supply was down to just a few dozens, but Gaddie kept calling out to fellow supporters, people she did not know, to ask if they needed water. </p><p>This is Gaddie&#x27;s second Robredo rally, her first being the vice president&#x27;s birthday rally in Pasay less than a week earlier.</p><p>&quot;Bandang 7 p.m. po, nawalan kami ng tubig. Tapos may total stranger po na lumapit sa akin, nag-offer ng tubig. So &#x27;yun po &#x27;yung nag-spark sa akin na magbigay po ng tubig ngayon at mag-volunteer, kasi ang sarap po pala sa feeling na magbigay ka ng walang nakukuha in return,&quot; she said. </p><p>Gaddie&#x27;s memory of how the crowd parted for her when she volunteered to refill water bottles for her fellow audience members is still fresh, as if it just happened yesterday. </p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="tl">23-year old Gaddie shares acts of kindness she experienced in Robredo’s Pasay rally that made her volunteer to give out free water in Robredo’s Batangas rally today.<br/><br/>“‘Yung hope na binibigay [ni Ma’am Leni] sa atin kaya pala natin ibigay sa ibang tao.” <a href="https://twitter.com/ABSCBNNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ABSCBNNews</a> <a href="https://t.co/jwCouGT0Gr">pic.twitter.com/jwCouGT0Gr</a></p>— Wena Cos (@wenacos) <a href="https://twitter.com/wenacos/status/1520341798115192832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2022</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>&quot;May dala akong 23 bottles. May nag-offer po na hiramin ko ang bag niya, tapos ilagay ko doon yug bottles. Tapos nung papunta na ako sa refilling station, humawi &#x27;yung daan. Na-hassle po, pati pagbalik sa pwesto ko,&quot; she shared. </p><p>&quot;Ang galing po kung paano tayo nagtutulungan, kung paano tayo nagbabayanihan. Ang galing ng kapwa ko Pilipino, ni VP Leni. Ang sarap lang po talagang tumulong ngayon,&quot; she added.</p><p>&quot;&#x27;Yung isang act of kindness po na magsa-spark para gawin ito, nagdo-domino effect siya. &#x27;Yun po ang binibigay ni Ma&#x27;am Leni sa atin ngayon: na &#x27;yung hope na binibigay niya sa atin, kaya po pala natin ibigay sa ibang tao,&quot; she said. </p><p>Robredo&#x27;s Bauan rally was attended by some 280,000 supporters from Batangas and surrounding provinces, according to local organizers.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/01/22/robredo-visits-batangas-again-in-hopes-for-another-victory">Robredo visits Batangas for 3rd time in hopes to seal repeat victory</a></li></ul><p>After attending a Labor Day event at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City, Robredo is set to attend two more rallies in Alfonso and Dasmariñas, Cavite on Sunday to complete her tour of Calabarzon as the last week of campaign rolls in.</p><p>The national and local elections will be held on May 9.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2018724" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Robredo's people's campaign sparked volunteerism in waves through her rallies, and her third Batangas rally is latest evidence.

'Barako para kay Leni' saw sharing of free coffee, drinks among supporters

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'Barako para kay Leni' saw sharing of free coffee, drinks among supporters

Wena Cos,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 01, 2022 04:58 PM PHT

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