Actor Donny Pangilinan on Sunday showed up at the campaign rally of Vice President Leni Robredo and his uncle, Sen. Kiko Pangilinan, in Pasig City.
The actor attended the campaign sortie, dubbed “PasigLaban,“ as his uncle attended the vice presidential debate at Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila in Pasay City.
This is the first vice presidential debate organized by the Commission on Elections.
Other vice-presidential bets who attended the debate are are former Akbayan representative Walden Bello, radio commentator Rizalito David, economist Manny SD Lopez, physician Willie Ong, lawyer Carlos Serapio, and Senate President Tito Sotto III.
Vice presidential candidates Rep. Lito Atienza (Buhay Party-list) and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio skipped the debate.
Meanwhile, PasigLaban was held along Emerald Avenue.
It reportedly drew the biggest crowd in the Leni-Kiko campaign rally, with reports saying there were an estimated 90,000 attendees.
The keywords “PasigLaban” and Donny’s name landed on Twitter Philippines’ top trending topics as online users tweet about the campaign sortie.
The Kapamilya actor’s participation in the campaign rally came days after he made online buzz as Robredo-Pangilinan supporters clamored for his presence during the campaign and to support the two 2022 bets.
Donny pens letter for Kiko
Hours before attending the campaign rally, the other half of the “DonBelle” loveteam shared a photo of him and the senator to declare his support for his uncle. It came with a lengthy caption where he referred to the vice-presidential bet as a “second dad.”
The actor wrote on Instagram:
“Growing up, I’ve always looked up to you. Literally, because you were the tallest among the titos and figuratively, ever since your first campaign for senator. Many know you officially as a senator, and a VP candidate—but personally, to me, you’re someone more than that… you’re a Ninong, an uncle, and a second dad to me and many of my cousins.”
” I will never forget the days wherein we’d pitch tents at your place and you’d just talk to us about life by the fire pit. We’d have smores while you shared your stories with Lolo and your sibs, or just random things about the world in general. Or how you would host the ‘Survivor Series’ and have us the cousins as the contestants.”
“You would give us a budget at the start of the week, and personally join us to the palengke, grocery, or stores to buy food and things needed so we’d have enough energy for our tasks. You were the game master, host, and judge for every game.”
“Tito Kiko was my first ever employer too. One summer, I think I was around 13 or 14, Tito texted me and some of my cousins asking if we wanted to work as farmers in his farm so that we could experience a fraction of the hard work that farmers go through on a daily basis. He himself arranged everything to have all of us picked up, to stay over at his place for 4 days, be woken up really early & to learn from the farmers what it meant to work—exhausted, hungry and sweaty.”
“At the end of the week, we each received an envelope. It contained our salary for the 4 days—which was the minimum wage at that time. He wanted to teach us that with what we went through, this was the amount farmers usually get paid per day. We appreciated the farmers more and what they provide for our country.”
“This is why I fully believe his heart for the farmers and the country—because I have personally seen this even from a very young age. Away from the big crowds, the cameras, and the media, I have seen his heart for people. Someone who is so humble, efficient, hardworking, shows up, and of course, has zero corruption. It is with great pride and honor to call you my tito. You have my vote and of course, my full support this coming May. Love you.”
Donny’s post garnered over 315,300 likes as of this writing. He is the son of Sen. Kiko’s brother, Anthony.
The elder Pangilinan acknowledged Donny’s post and thanked the actor for his “kind words.”
“Thank you, Donny. I chose to fight alongside VP Leni for you and all your cousins and children everywhere to have a better future. You all deserve better and we fight to make things right for you, your generation and all Filipinos. Thank you for your kind words of support. Love you too, my inaanak,” the senator said in the comments.