Robredo supporters in Boston ‘excited’ to welcome her

Boston Strong Pinoys for Leni/Kiko was one of the groups in the Northern USA that campaigned for Robredo in the May 2022 elections. FACEBOOK

The Filipino American community in Boston is eager to welcome former Vice President Leni Robredo who was recently announced one of five Hauser leaders at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership.

Patricia Aldaba Lim, one of the founders of Boston Strong Pinoys for Leni/Kiko, said the group is excited about Robredo’s selection as a Hauser leader and looks forward to seeing her in Massachusetts.

The Hauser Leaders Program brings distinguished leaders from across the public, nonprofit, and private sectors to CPL to engage with students, faculty, and the wider Harvard community, according to a press statement.

Robredo, the 14th vice president of the Philippines (2016-2022) and chairperson, Angat Pinas, Inc., is one of five Hauser leaders for 2022 that also includes Jane Harman, president emerita, Wilson Center and U.S. Representative; David Ignatius, Foreign Affairs columnist, The Washington Post; Michael Lomax, president & CEO, United Negro College Fund; and Dov Seidman, founder and chairman of The HOW Institute for Society.

“At a time when many challenges stem from leadership shortcomings, these Hauser Leaders bring to campus living examples of principled and effective public leadership,” said Deval Patrick, co-director for the Center for Public Leadership and professor of the practice of public leadership. “Though from different experiences, these leaders share values, values applied in practical ways, that they can now share with the Kennedy School community.”

 “We’re pretty stoked about the Hauser leadership,” she said when reached by The FilAm. “As soon as the announcement came through the chatter on my social media feed we’re buzzing. Many are hoping she would make time in her schedule to meet us.”

Boston Strong Pinoys for Leni/Kiko was one of the groups in Northern USA that campaigned for Robredo in the May 2022 elections. The group started fundraising through projects like the Tailgate Lugaw Party, the Lutong Bahay grab-and-go, Zoom talk; and the April rally in the historic Boston Common Park.

Robredo conceded the race to Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. but said the “fight does not end with the elections” and that “there is a bigger battle ahead.”

A Hauser statement described Robredo’s “colorful” term as vice president.

“During her term, Robredo reinvented the Office of the Vice President of the Philippines, transforming it from its traditional role of performing purely ceremonial functions to an advocacy centered office. At OVP’s helm, she launched the poverty alleviation program called Angat Buhay (“uplifting lives”), energizing private sector partners and providing a space for them to help some of the poorest, farthest, and smallest parts around the country. Through such collaboration, Angat Buhay reached out to hundreds of communities — from rural areas to the urban poor — and brought much-needed interventions on health, education, nutrition and food security, rural development, women empowerment, and housing.”

Among previous Hauser leaders were Nicholas Kristof, Op-ed Columnist, The New York Times andPulitzer Prize winner; Vivek Murthy, 21st United States Surgeon General (2021-present); and Maria Ressa, co-founder and CEO, Rappler, and Pulitzer Prize winner. @TheFilam