Supporters of Philippines presidential hopeful Leni Robredo were unfazed by the bad weather as they held an election rally for her in Rizal province.

Armed with umbrellas, raincoats, and placards to shield them from the downpour, some 40,000 people flocked to the Rizal Provincial Capitol Grounds on April 5 despite the rain threatening to dampen the event.

The 'Kakampinks' - a portmanteau of the Filipino word 'kakampi' meaning ally, and 'pink' which is Robredo's chosen campaign colour - cheered and sang along to performances from local bands before Robredo's address.

The rain abated just in time for her speech at around 9 in the evening.

Robredo is vying for the presidency of the Philippines, and has chosen the colour pink to brand her campaign. She is competing against nine other candidates, including controversial election poll frontrunner Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son and namesake of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

Human rights monitor Amnesty International said at least 3,240 were killed, 34,000 were tortured, and 70,000 were jailed during Marcos’s brutal 14-year reign under martial law. His family is believed to have amassed a staggering 5 to 10 billion USD as they plundered the national coffers and plunged the Philippines into debt. The Philippine Commission on Good Governance was established to recover the Marcoses’ ill-gotten wealth after they fled the country in 1986.

A probe by news agency AFP said that ‘false and misleading claims have flooded Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and Twitter in the lead-up to the May 9 polls, pounding Filipinos with a relentless barrage of propaganda on platforms’ in support of Ferdinand Marcos Junior, who uses the nickname ‘Bongbong’.

The Philippines will be holding its national elections on May 9 this year.