Did Leni ditch the yellow?

MANILA, Philippines - Leni Robredo may not have worn yellow to her proclamation in Congress as vice president-elect yesterday, but it doesn’t mean she has renounced her loyalty as a member of the Liberal Party (LP).

Robredo responded yesterday to questions on why she wasn’t wearing anything yellow – the color of the LP – during proclamation rites.

“I’m not fashion conscious and I’ve not forgotten where I’ve come from but at the same time, I’m extending my hand of cooperation to all who are not with us (in the LP),” Robredo told reporters shortly after her proclamation attended by hundreds of her supporters wearing yellow shirts and dresses.

The LP adopted yellow as its color after the song “Tie a Yellow Ribbon,” which was adopted as a symbol for the return of the late senator Benigno Aquino Jr. in 1983.

Yellow became the color of Cory Aquino when she ran for president against the dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1985 and was the color of protest during the 1986 People Power revolution. President Aquino also took yellow as his campaign color.

Robredo said she has only two office dresses that are yellow and she already wore one late last week.

“I’ve very few choices because I only have two. I’m dark-skinned so I try to avoid wearing those that make me dark, except during electoral campaign,” she said, smiling.

Being the highest elected LP member, Robredo faces the prospect of holding a high leadership position in the party.

Robredo joined the party in the 2013 elections when she ran and won as representative of the third congressional district of Camarines Sur.

“I did not hold any position (in the LP). The rule of the party is that whoever gets the highest position will become the leader but this has to be discussed first,” she said.

“We’ll have to discuss where we’re going. I hope that they will not forget that our ties will not be because of the elections only,” she said.

The LP is now seeing mass defections to Duterte’s party PDP-Laban.