Tsinelas | The Adobo Chronicles

VP candidate Robredo speaking to a crowd while being photobombed by a Sanchez ally

MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – Leni Robredo this week began her ‘solo’ campaign sorties after she and her political team saw the need to turn the spotlight away from her presidential running mate, Mar Roxas.

Robredo, the Liberal Party’s candidate for vice president, has not been doing very well in national polls, trailing behind rivals Senators Chiz Escudero and Bongbong Marcos. Robredo acknowledged that all of her joint campaign appearances with Roxas have been largely focused on the presidential candidate.

But while Robredo is trying her best to “breakaway” from joint appearances with Roxas, the presidential candidate’s wife, broadcaster Korina Sanchez would not let go.

In a recent solo campaign appearance by Robredo, the media photographers jumped on the occasion to take picture-perfect shots of Robredo speaking to a crowd of supporters. In photo after photo, supporters of Roxas led by Sanchez, photobombed Robredo with giant pairs of flipflops (tsinelas).

The flipflops are part of Sanchez’ Tsinelas project which she started years ago to promote her television talk show. The project aimed to collect a million pairs of flipflops to give away to poor families and children. It has, since then, become a campaign paraphernalia for the Yellow Party, and in particular, Mar Roxas.

MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – It’s been said many times that behind every man’s success is a woman. Well, that is certainly true in history as it is in contemporary politics.

In the Philippines, Imelda Marcos is widely acknowledged as the inspiration (or force) that spelled the late President Ferdinand Marcos’ success and staying power.

It’s 2015, and there’s a new batch of Filipino women that are the driving force behind their husband’s political careers. At least one woman that we know of: broadcaster Korina Sanchez, a.k.a., Mrs. Mar Roxas.

Even before Roxas declared his candidacy for president of the Philippines, Sanchez has been a staunch supporter and defender of her husband. Many will recall that she came to the defense of Roxas when CNN’s Anderson Cooper criticized the slow response of the Aquino government (and, by extension, the Department of Interior and Local Government of which Roxas was secretary) to the plight of the victims of typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda).

Political strategists had warned that Sanchez’ penchant for making frequent controversial public statements (like when she said on the air that she hoped an impending typhoon that was about to approach the Philippines would veer towards Japan instead) could be detrimental to her husband’s candidacy. So against her will, she has been staying quietly in the background while her husband did all the talking and campaigning.

But now that her husband’s standing in the polls is not looking very good, Sanchez is again stepping up — in a very public way — to help her husband secure the votes he needs to become the next Philippine president.

Sanchez has just launched “Tsinelas mula kay Roxas,” (flip flops from Roxas), a nation-wide campaign in which Sanchez will hand out a pair of her infamous slippers or flip flops to every Filipino voter who would pledge to vote for her husband.

So voters, get them now while supplies last!