MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo on Sunday said she will not apologize on behalf of her daughters after presidential spokesperson Harry Roque fumed over their tweets that supposedly pertain to President Rodrigo Duterte.
Robredo came to the defense of her daughters whom she said have their own convictions and beliefs.
“Iyong mga anak ko mga ano iyon, eh, mga napakastrong iyong mga convictions. Mga outspoken, very strong iyong convictions. Hindi ko nga alam na may pinost sila. Nalaman ko lang noong pinost na ni Secretary Roque,” Robredo said in her weekly radio show.
(My children have strong convictions. They are outspoken, they have strong convictions. I didn’t even know they posted something. I only found out after Secretary Roque pointed it out.)
“Pero sa akin, hindi ko sila, hindi ako mag-a-apologize. Hindi ako mag-a-apologize sa kanilang mga paniniwala. Kasi itong mga anak ko, lahat ito hindi umasa sa aming impluwensya o pangalan. Kung ano man iyong kanilang na-accomplish dahil iyon sa kanilang hard work,” she added.
(For me, I won’t apologize. I won’t apologize over what they believe in. My children do not rely on whatever influence we have nor our name. Whatever they accomplished, they did it because of their hard work.)
Robredo also noted that her children have no intention of entering politics.
Roque, in a press briefing, insisted that the President had a basis on his recent tirades against Robredo.
He cited posts of people close to the Vice President, showing screenshots of a Twitter exchange between Robredo’s daughters Tricia and Aika.
The said tweets, which asked if somebody was still asleep, did not contain any name nor the hashtag #NasaanAngPangulo (where is the President).