The Robin Padilla phenomenon
The destiny of Robin Padilla is nothing less than phenomenal. From the lowest point of his life when he was accused and convicted of a crime and imprisoned in the national penitentiary, he rose to become senator of the republic, and not only a senator but an amazingly top performer in vote getting in all Philippine history. He surpassed the records of Salonga, Manglapus and even Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
Not only did Robin top the 2022 senatorial elections. He got the highest number of votes among all history's senatorial topnotchers. He leads by almost three million votes over the second placer, and he won in all the 82 provinces in the Philippines. He got more votes than brilliant lawyers like Cayetano and Escudero. He defeated legal luminaries like Chel Diokno, Dick Gordon and bar topnotcher Gibo Teodoro. He surpassed the votes of incumbent senators like Migz Zubiri, Joel Villanueva, Win Gatchalian. He did much better than comebacking senators like Legarda, JV and Jinggoy and shamed Jojo Binay who could not even win despite his billions in campaign funds.
Robin was number one in the following provinces: (in alphabetical order) Abra, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Apayao, Aurora, Basilan, (with 171,277 votes, second placer Tulfo has only 46,432), Benguet, Biliran, Bohol, Cagayan, Camarines Norte, Cotabato, Davao de Oro, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, DavaO Occidental, Davao Oriental, Dinagat Islands, Eastern Samar, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Isabela, Kalinga, La Union, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Leyte, Maguindanao (with 478,101 votes; second placer Zubiri only has 225,831), Misamis Oriental, Mountain Province.
For lack of space, I shall continue with the provinces beginning N to Z, form Northern Samar to the three Zamboangas. Suffice it to say that in all Muslim provinces, Robin got much, much more votes. And in other provinces is always among the winning 12. He is number 2 to Zubiri in Bukidnon, to Tulfo in Cebu, to Baguilat in Ifugao, to Tulfo in Masbate. He was number 3 in Antique, Capiz, Cavite, Misamis Occidental. He was number 4 in Batangas, Laguna, Marinduque and Negros Occidental. He was number 5 in Bataan, Bulacan and Catanduanes, and number 6 in Aklan.
The only province where Robin did not make it are Camiguin where he was only number 15 and Guimaras where he was number 13. In Cebu, the senators who made it in the magic 12 were Tulfo, 927,594 votes, Robin, 924,326, Cayetano, 796,381, Legarda, 788,916, Zubiri, 732,101, Gatchalian, 727,303, Villar, 685,193, Escudero, 665,065, Gibo, 584,139, Hontiveros, 579,148, Villanueva, 563,966 and Jinggoy, 490,584. The Cebuanos prefer Robin over such brilliant lawyers as Dick Gordon who was only number 18 with 300,226, Chel Diokno, number 20 with 265,900, Leila de Lima who was number 26 with 166,612Luke Espiritu, number 35 with 76,068 and Sonny Matula, number 38 with 54,875.
Cebuanos, like the rest of the Filipinos, want entertainment in the Senate more than they need important laws for the country's social, economic and political development. What is happening to our country, General Eleazar? Bistek Bautista got more votes than you, General? Senator Robin is the face of our political maturity. He represents our values and character as a people. No longer Recto, Diokno or Salonga. It’s Robin, Jingoy, Bong and Lito Lapid. That's what we are. Happy?
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