Leni Robredo’s new podcast scales to top of Spotify Philippines chart

August 26, 2021 - 3:52 PM
5336
Vice President Leni Robredo smiles as she sits in her office in this photo uploaded on her Facebook on Aug. 20, 2021. (Photo from Facebook/Leni Gerona Robredo)

Vice President Leni Robredo‘s newly released podcast on Spotify has topped the local charts shortly after it was launched on Monday.

Titled “The Leni Robredo Podcast,” it aims to be seen as a “safe space” by the second-highest official of the land who said that her listeners can “relax” and listen to her interview personalities with whom she has shared experiences.

“In this space, relax lang, puwedeng sumandal at tumawa. Safe space kung saan puwede tayong magpakatotoo. Kaya halika, magkuwentuhan tayo,” part of its teaser says.

The podcast debuted a month before the filing of the candidacies in October.

Robredo’s spokesperson, lawyer Barry Gutierrez, said in an interview that the timing of its launch was “unplanned” and that it has been in the works for the past two months.

He admitted, however, that one of their goals was “to be able to reach out to more audiences and sectors.”

“Definitely. A more intimate, more candid, and, hopefully, more genuine perspective on Leni Robredo — Not just as vice president, but as a woman, a mom, an advocate, a Filipino, and a person,” Gutierrez said.

Robredo’s podcast is also a complement to her weekly radio program “BISErbisyong Leni” where she talks about the livelihood programs of her office, as well as their current projects to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.

Her pilot episode featured an interview with television host Bianca Gonzalez where they revisited the beginnings of their careers and how they overcame the pressures that come with being in the spotlight.

“For so long, so many people have been asking me to do a podcast of my own, lalo dito sa office, because a lot of our staff our very young people, and sinasabi nila para naman makausap mo ‘yong mga age group namin, pero nine-nerbyos ako kasi sabi ko baka hindi ko kayanin,” she told Gonzalez.

“So hopefully with this podcast, I will be able to reach the generation of my daughters,” Robredo added.

As of Thursday morning, her podcast has landed on the top spot of the most popular podcasts in Spotify Philippines.

Top Podcast Leni
(Screengrab from Spotify Philippines by Interaksyon)

Her pilot episode is also on the third spot of the “Top Episodes” list which features new and emerging podcast episodes.

Top Episodes Leni
(Screengrab from Spotify Philippines by Interaksyon)

A podcast is defined as an episodic series of spoken word digital audio files that an individual can download or subscribe to a personal device for listening.

The term is a portmanteau of the words “iPod” and “broadcast.”

Podcasts started as an independent way for people to get their message across and build a community with similar interests.