WHEN boxing legend Manny Pacquiao sought support from his fellow presidential candidates for victims of a super typhoon down South, Vice President Leni Robredo was one of the first persons to heed the call.
In a Twitter conversation that marked one of the rare times that contenders for the presidency in the May elections agreed on something, Robredo and Pacquiao vowed to team up for those affected by typhoon Odette in Visayas and Mindanao.
“Joining you in this call, Sen Manny,” Robredo wrote in reply to Pacquiao's, highlighting his tweet with the praying hands emoji.
The eight-division world boxing champ then responded: “Thank you VP Leni. Let’s begin coordinating our efforts, we already prepared cargo planes so we can mobilize and respond quickly,” he tweeted.
“Thank you, Sen. Our team will get in touch with yours,” Robredo responded.



The Twitter conversation brought to mind one of the biggest 'what ifs' of the coming national elections, when the two presidential aspirants nearly ended up as tandems.
'What if'
However, the talks didn’t go deep last August as Robredo formalized her partnership with Sen. Kiko Pangilinan while Pacquiao continued on with his presidential bid, eventually tapping Lito Atienza as partner.
For many, Pacquiao could have made for a formidable vice-presidential candidate and could have given Robredo a major boost.
Robredo remains second in most presidential polls, but continues to improve in her survey results. A recent Publicus survey showed Robredo now with 20.2 percent from last month’s 15.4%.
Former Senator Bongbong Marcos, who Robredo defeated in the vice-presidential race in 2016, continues to top the survey with 51.9%. Pacquiao can only yield 2.3%, behind 3-5th placers Isko Moreno (7.9%), Bong Go (3.9%) and Panfilo Lacson (3.4%).
Meanwhile, Inday Sara Duterte leads the vice-presidential race with 54.8%. She is trailed by Dr. Willie Ong at 11.2 percent, Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto 3rd at 11 percent, Pangilinan at 9.7 percent and Atienza at 1.5 percent.
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