NAGA CITY — Reacting to President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent pronouncement that she is not fit to be his successor, Vice President Leni Robredo has posted on her Facebook account a brief interview clip of her late husband and former Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo.
On Tuesday, Duterte said in a speech in front of businessmen and diplomats that he was ready to “step down and retire.”
But he said Robredo was not fit to be his successor. The President also tagged Naga City, Robredo’s hometown, as once a “hotbed of shabu.”
READ: Duterte rejects Robredo as successor, says Naga a ‘hotbed of shabu’
In her Facebook post, Robredo said she received so many messages asking her to react and defend herself.
“Since we’re commemorating his (Jesse’s) 6th death anniversary on Saturday, [we] will let him do the talking. Ganyan din naman sagot ko (That’s also my answer),” her post said.
The video, which lasted for two minutes, was a one-on-one interview with Jesse in a television show.
In the video, the former DILG secretary talked about how he and his family always wanted a simple life and that they would never engage in any controversies in politics.
Jesse was also recorded as saying, “Maayos naman ang hangarin mo. Gusto mo magtrabaho ng maayos. Gusto mo pang pagsipagan ito pero bakit nagkakaganito pa? (You have good intentions. You want to work hard. But why is this happening?)”
He added that he cannot play the game. “I will not pay anyone just to build up my name, build up my image because if I do that, then I don’t believe in myself anymore,” he said.
“Ang dulo ng lahat ng bagay ay palaging ang matino ang mananalo…(In the end, it’s always the good one that wins). That’s why I think in time, although this will all pass, people will realize what the truth really is,” he said.
Robredo will be in Naga City on Saturday (August 18) to commemorate Jesse’s 6th death anniversary.
Jesse died in a plane crash in Masbate in 2012, while he was serving as Interior Secretary under the Aquino administration. /ee
READ: Robredo plane crash traced to pilot error