Duterte to ruin me? No problem but he better speak the truth – Robredo

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo assured on Wednesday that she sees no problem with President Rodrigo Duterte’s threat of shaming and ruining her, as long as one condition is met: Make sure the things he would say are correct.

In an apparent swipe against the administration’s blatant use of fake information, Robredo said that although President Duterte’s threats are “very unpresidential,” she does not mind as the Chief Executive is entitled to make remarks as long as they are true.

“I think, that’s very unpresidential. Pero karapatan naman niyang sabihin kung ano iyong dapat niyang sabihin pero siguraduhin niya lang na tama iyong pinagbabasehan niya,” Robredo told reporters in an ambush interview at Ragay, Camarines Sur.

(I think that’s very unpresidential. But he has the right to say whatever he needs to say, but he should ensure that his basis for his claims would be correct.)

“And in this case, mali siya (he’s wrong),” she quipped.

Robredo was referring to Duterte’s outburst on Tuesday night. The President lambasted Robredo for supposedly questioning his whereabouts during Typhoon Ulysses’ onslaught. However, Robredo never uttered words to that effect.

The hashtag #NasaanAngPangulo trended on social media due to his perceived absence from the public eye amid the calamity.  Duterte argued that he was speaking before the Asean summit, which was scheduled on the same day that Ulysses made landfall.

Duterte further threatened to expose Robredo and shame her should she run in the 2022 presidential elections.

Robredo quickly answered back, stressing she never asked where the President was during the storm.

Robredo has long been rumored to be the opposition’s presidential candidate for 2022, in a battle that is seen to feature Duterte’s daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio. The rumors intensified when the administration and opposition senatorial slates were led, respectively, by Robredo and Duterte-Carpio.

Both have denied having plans for 2022, with Robredo repeatedly saying that setting sights on politics would tarnish their body of work.

As to who started the #NasaanAngPangulo trend, Robredo insists that she does not have anything to do with it — noting that the hashtag started way before the administration of Duterte’s predecessor, former president Benigno Aquino III.

Aquino and Robredo are both part of the opposition bloc, the Liberal Party.

“Hindi ko alam, actually. Kung naalala niyo, kahit iyong time ni P-Noy, ginagamit na iyong hashtag na iyon. Iyong ngayon, hindi lang yata ngayong typhoon, eh. Parang ginamit na siya—tama ba—ginamit na siya even before,” Robredo said.

(I don’t know who started it.  If you remember, even before the time of PNoy, this hashtag was already being used.  Now, not only during the typhoon, but it is being used even before if I’m not mistaken.)

She further said that she does not believe Duterte should show up on the night of Ulysses’ wrath but noted that someone representing Duterte — as he is busy with the Asean summit — should have gone public.

“Kapag humihingi iyong mga kababayan natin ng tulong, kailangan mayroong lumabas, whether ako iyon, whether si Pangulo iyon, puwede nga si Secretary Harry Roque o iyong head ng NDRRMC, puwedeng lumabas at sabihin, ‘narinig namin kayo. Nakuha namin iyong lahat na calls for help niyo. Help is coming. Gagawin namin iyong lahat para masalba kayo.’,” she stressed.

(When the people are asking for help, there should be someone to address these, whether it is me, the President, or spokesperson and Secretary Harry Roque, or the head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council can go out and say “we heard you”, that “your calls for help reached us, help is coming, and we would do everything to rescue you.)

“Dapat ganoon iyong mensahe,” she added.

(Messages should be like that.)

Malacañang officials have also criticized Robredo for grandstanding during the response for Ulysses, but the Vice President noted that he was not commanding the military, rather, she was coordinating and relaying information that will be useful in rescuing people, especially those trapped by floods in Cagayan Valley. [ac]