CONSIDERING that she had been espousing the advancement of women’s welfare, a recent survey shows that Leni Robredo, the lone woman presidential candidate, will not get substantial votes from the female sector in the coming May 9 elections.

The March edition of the Laylo survey shows that Robredo, even if armed with her women empowerment platform, will most likely receive just 17% of the female hard votes and 25% of the soft votes.

This is in stark contrast to presidential frontrunner Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. who is poised to receive 53% from the female hard voters and 21% from the soft voters.

The survey, which was conducted from March 15 to 22, has 3,000 respondents nationwide and experts believe that it mirrors the actual trend of votes come election day.

“Parang mahirap iboto kahit babae dahil masyadong maraming isyu gaya ng pakikipagsabwatan sa CPP-NPA,” posted @Adel143 on one of Robredo’s ads on Facebook.

“Pinapalabas ng Simbahang Katolika na banal si Leni, pero malakas ang bulung-bulungan na kabit sya nung isang Congressman from Quezon City kadiri,” said @KoreanangPinay on another post.

Speaking at a Women’s Forum in Cape Town, South Africa in 2017, Robredo stressed that gender equality is not a “soft” issue because reality has shown that when women are heard more, societies thrive better.

But somehow the narrative does not apply to her considering that she is not being heard here at home and her women supporters are far too few compared to that of the other candidates.

“Maybe the women voters can see through her duplicity. Maybe the image being created of her by the Church and her supporters is too ambiguous and outlandish. Or maybe she’s just a turn off,” chided @CorazonAkina on her Facebook account.

Recently, a group of women celebrities came out and expressed their all out support for Robredo in an effort to gain much-needed traction, but even this did not suffice as survey results from different polling agencies continue to reflect that more women favor Marcos over her.

“It will take more than just celebrity endorsements and lip service for Robredo to overtake the lead of Marcos. I believe the women have spoken and Marcos is the anointed one,” @PinayEloisa posted on her Twitter.

A recent article from a media entity that has been openly biased for Robredo said she has disappointed some of the women she claims to empower.

Robredo has shown little conviction and at times was lost for words during media interviews, debates, and forums.

Her answers on topics like divorce, abortion, and same-sex marriage – three contentious issues that divides the country – were found lacking in substance.

“Despite these, Robredo’s hold over a solid feminist vote may have been compromised. Her stances on the said gender issues go against what many advocates have been fighting for in a country that is still under a strong patriarchal grip,” said Rappler in one of its articles.

On the contrary, Marcos has upped the ante by addressing the issues concerning women heads mostly based on his unity platform and his call for inclusive governance.

Robredo’s weak showing in social classes and regional distribution categories is also amplified by her low preference in the age bracket where she is likely to receive only 14% from voters whose age ranges from 18-34, 15% from 35-54, and 18% from 55 years old and above.

In the Philippine political setting, women traditionally support female candidates as in the case of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Loren Legarda, Grace Poe, and even Miriam Defensor-Santiago.

Women votes are massive and can dictate the outcome of the elections.

This is not the case here, however, because survey results indicate that female voters are not buying Robredo’s antics.