ACTRESS and animal rights advocate Nadine Lustre said she will support former vice president and current Naga City Mayor Leni Robredo if she runs for president in 2028. “For me, she’s really the best candidate for the presidency, obviously, and I supported her way, way back when she ran the first time. So definitely, I would support her,” Lustre told reporters after she joined Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima and other animal rights and nature advocates in filing two House bills seeking to strengthen animal welfare laws and the creation of a national plant-based health advocacy program. Lustre was among the celebrity endorsers of Robredo in 2022, who lost to Ferdinand Marcos Jr. However, Lustre said that she will respect Robredo if she decides to remain as Naga City mayor. “Sometimes the best presidents are those that don’t want to run. So, we’ll see. We’ll cross the bridge when we get there because right now, it’s really hard to say,” Lustre said. Mirroring Lustre’s wishes, de Lima said they are not losing hope that Robredo will run in 2028 for being the “most capable” opposition candidate, noting that those who did not vote for her are now reflecting on their actions. “On what is happening in our country right now, on what is happening in our economy, the overall state of the country and national affairs, we need somebody like [former] VP Leni Robredo, who is not only clean but also very capable, and her advocacy is clean and good governance,” de Lima said. De Lima filed House Bill 7696, which seeks to create animal welfare desks in all police stations and an animal welfare ombudsman unit for oversight and monitoring; and House Bill 7697, which seeks to establish the “Gulay Para sa Kalusugan at Kinabukasan” program. She also filed House Resolution 748, which directs the Committee on Natural Resources to investigate the country’s environmental challenges and issues and recommend policies to prevent negative ecological impacts. Lustre was joined by her boyfriend, Christophe Bariou, and representatives from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), Animal Kingdom Foundation, CARA Welfare Philippines, and Biyaya Animal Care. Both Lustre and Bariou said the bills are a “win for the Filipino people” as they are a “win for health, farmers, and the environment.”