MANILA, Philippines — Despite being constantly dragged into alleged destabilization plans, Vice President Leni Robredo said Friday she believes President Rodrigo Duterte knows that she is not a threat.
“Tingin ko, ito hula ko lang, ‘pag nakikita ako ni Presidente ramdam niya naman na hindi ako threat (I guess the President doesn’t see me as a threat),” Robredo told DZMM on Friday.
“Ibig sabihin wala naman akong pagnanasa to wrestle power from him gaya nang pino-portray ng iba, sa tingin ko alam niya ‘yon (I don’t have any desire to wrestle power from him like what others want to portray. So I think he knows that),” she added.
Robredo said this even as hitches in their working relationship have been well documented. Shortly after assuming the vice presidency in 2016, Robredo was appointed as the administration’s housing czar.
However, the Vice President tendered her resignation after Duterte supposedly ordered her to refrain from attending cabinet meetings.
READ: Duterte appoints Robredo as HUDCC chief
READ: On 1st day as HUDCC chair, Robredo meets with urban poor leaders
READ: Robredo asked to stop attending Cabinet meetings, quits post
READ: Robredo resigns from Duterte Cabinet
Robredo and the opposition Liberal Party have been consistently tagged in alleged plots to unseat Duterte. One of these plots was revealed by Duterte’s son himself, former Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte. He said Robredo and her private partners were making moves to destabilize the government.
READ: Palace distances from Paolo Duterte’s ouster movement list
READ: Lorenzana: Paolo Duterte’s list of ouster plotters is fake news
Just recently, Robredo and Otso Diretso were implicated in Oplan Sodoma, which allegedly uses propaganda materials like the release of the Ang Totoong Narcolist series, to pin Duterte’s relatives and close allies and discredit them.
Robredo has denied involvement in the said ouster plot.
READ: Robredo denies meeting or knowing ‘Bikoy’
READ: ‘I will never be part of any destabilization plot’ – Robredo
The Vice President said Duterte may have been fed with misleading information, and this might have contributed to their fallout.
“Tingin ko kasi syempre maraming nakapaligid sa kanya, baka nasusumbungan ng hindi tama. Halimbawa no’ng ini-ease out ako sa cabinet, that was based on wrong information (Maybe because he is surrounded by people who may have whispered something that is not correct. For example, I was ousted from the Cabinet because of the wrong information),” she explained.
Despite these challenges, Robredo revealed that she and Duterte still talk from time to time, especially during events where they are both invited.
She also revealed that she also got invited to Duterte’s fourth State of the Nation Address (Sona) on July 22.
“‘Pag nagkikita kami very civil naman. May conversation naman, nanga-ngamusta siya (When we see each other, it’s civil. There is a conversation, and he asks me how things are),” she said.
The Vice President also said that she had a glimpse of what was about to come during their inauguration in 2016.
“No’ng sinabi ni Presidente na ayaw niyang maki-join sa akin, parang pangitain na ‘yon na hindi siya magiging smooth (When the President said that he doesn’t want to join me, it was already an indication that everything will not be smooth),” she added. /ee