What is pink?

Vice President Leni Robredo finally declared she will join the race for president in 2022. Many of her supporters rejoiced and #LetLeniLead2022 immediately trended on Twitter and Facebook.

During the declaration of her independent presidential bid, she said that if we really want to free ourselves from corruption, from politicians who just serve their own interests, changing the surnames of those in power is not enough. What we need is to replace corruption, incompetence and lack of compassion with decent and competent leadership.

What was very noticeable, though, during her announcement was her campaign color: pink. This is different from her former political party Liberal’s yellow color. Her critics used to call her supporters dilawan because of this.

But how about now that her campaign color is pink? What is the Filipino word for pink? Some say the translation is rosas, the rose flower, which has colors ranging from pink to deep red. Looking it up in the UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino, the Filipino translation for pink is actually kalimbahin. It says pink or kalimbahin is “kulay mula sa mapusyaw na pula hanggang sa maputla at mamula-mulang lila” – somewhere between pale red and pale to reddish violet. Be it pink or kalimbahin, Robredo’s critics surely would still have a hard time calling her by her campaign color.

Pink is often associated with physical weakness and overly emotional nature. But after Robredo’s strong declaration of running for president, pink is now the new symbol of hope, competence, integrity and women empowerment.

Whatever Robredo’s campaign color is, what’s more important is the change and platform she would offer our country come 2022. – John Patrick F. Solano [email protected]