MANILA, Philippines — The spokesperson of Vice President Leni Robredo has assured Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin that they are not worried about the 2022 elections, claiming that it is the administration supporters who are afraid of the next polls.
Lawyer Barry Gutierrez clarified on Wednesday that they are looking forward to 2022, contrary to claims by Locsin that the opposition is fearful of the next elections and has resorted to wishing someone — presumably President Rodrigo Duterte — to pass away.
Locsin made the remarks after he was asked in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel earlier about the President’s state of health. He added that the opposition should not worry as they have a good candidate, supposedly referring to Robredo.
“On the contrary, we look forward to the election in 2022. It is this administration’s supporters, with their loud, if lonely, calls for a ‘revolutionary government’ that are clearly terrified of the end of this term,” Gutierrez said in a statement.
“Mr. Locsin’s pontifications on the current situation, like his conspiracy theories, are seriously wanting in credibility,” he added.
Gutierrez was referring to recent calls from Duterte supporters, believed to be members of the Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte-National Executive Coordinating Committee (MRRD-NECC), to adopt a revolutionary government (RevGov) which would fast track the shift to a federal government.
Some critics of the administration believe that the RevGov talks were meant to extend Duterte’s term beyond 2022, but Malacañang officials have dismissed such allegations.
There have been questions surrounding Duterte’s health recently after rumors spread that he flew to Singapore two weeks ago to seek treatment. While Duterte and his allies denied this — even posting a photo of Duterte in the country — the President admitted on Tuesday that his Barrett’s esophagus was getting worse.
Duterte said in his public address aired Tuesday morning that his doctor advised him to refrain from eating fatty food and drinking liquor, as his condition might worsen to stage 1 cancer.
The 1987 Constitution says that if a sitting president dies or is incapable of leading, the vice president — in this case Robredo — would take over. After Robredo made a public address on Monday, social media was filled with hashtags #LetLeniLead from her supporters, alluding to giving the Vice President a greater role in the government.
However, this has earned the ire of administration supporters and some government critics as well, for Robredo’s supporters’ allegedly untimely message.[ac]