From graduations to weddings.
Former vice president Leni Robredo is once again expected to grace an event—this time, as a principal sponsor for the upcoming wedding of Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz with her longtime boyfriend.
The Angat Buhay NGO chairperson will be a “ninang” to Diaz’s nuptial with conditioning coach Julius Naranjo on July 26, 2022 at St. Ignatius Church in Baguio City.
The date is exactly a year after the weightlifting wonder won the country’s first-ever gold medal in the Olympics in the 2020 Tokyo Games.
The list of their wedding entourage was shared by Diaz’s manager, Noel Ferrer, on social media.
Among those listed as the couple’s principal sponsors include Robredo.
This was further amplified when a Reddit user posted a screengrab of Ferrer’s Facebook post where he called Robredo “ninang.”
At that time, the couple visited Robredo in her NGO’s headquarters.
“PINAGHIRAPANG TAGUMPAY: Sakripisyo, Tiwala at Pagmamahal. Para sa Diyos at Bayan. At Para Sa Isa’t Isa. Hidilyn Diaz Oly at Julius Irvin Hikaru T. Naranjo, nakasuporta lang kami ni Ninang Leni Gerona Robredo lagi!!!” Ferrer wrote, tagging their Facebook accounts.
He also added the following hashtags in his post: “#TheWeightIsOver #FromGoldToForever #NaranjoDiazAhead”
Ferrer’s post caught the attention of a Redditor who took note of his reference to the former vice president as a godmother.
“Ninang Leni !!!” the Reddit user said on Thursday.
The post has been upvoted at 99% so far.
When Diaz won her second gold medal in the 31st Southeast Asian Games last May, some noticed that she wore pink on the occasion.
It was the campaign color of Robredo, who ran for president in the 2022 elections—held in the same month.
Ferrer also commented that Diaz was “pretty happy in pink” at that time.
Meanwhile, other personalities from the couple’s list of principal sponsors are former senator and boxer Manny Pacquiao, dermatologist-to-the-stars Vicki Belo, award-wining actress Judy Ann Santos, business moguls Manny Pangilinan and Ramon Ang, Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino and Bo Sanchez, among others.
Angel Locsin is also listed as one of Diaz’s matrons of honor while Atom Araullo and Iza Calzado are part of the couple’s groomsmen and bridesmaids, respectively.
According to Diaz, they chose these personalities to be part of their wedding entourage as she and Naranjo see them as their “life pegs.”
“We want the people present in our wedding to be those who will serve as our inspirations as we go through our marriage,” she said on a digital talk show before.
“These are our life pegs, people we hope to be able to consult if ever Julius and I encounter problems as a married couple,” Diaz added.
For Robredo, this was not the first time that she was invited to a major occasion post-election.
The former presidential bet graced the commencement exercises of the Philippine Science High School last June, where she was the guest speaker for the graduates.
She was also invited to attend Adamson University‘s commencement exercises for the morning session last week.
Robredo is likewise expected to serve as a speaker at the Ateneo de Manila University‘s upcoming graduation rites in August.
