Only one bet for opposition – Robredo

Leni Robredo

MANILA, Philippines — If the opposition wishes to defeat President Rodrigo Duterte’s anointed candidate, there should “only be one opposition candidate” in the 2022 elections, Vice President Leni Robredo said on Monday, as she acknowledged the need to galvanize their forces amid the President’s enduring populist strategy.

In a forum with the University of Cambridge’s Filipino scholars on Monday evening (Manila time), Robredo warned that fielding several candidates in the elections “will only ensure another six years of victory of the same kind of governance that the last five years gave us.”

“I’m not sure it’s to the best interest of the country,” she said. “So my sense is that whatever will be good, or whatever will be required to unite the opposition, whether the candidate is myself or some other person … [it’s] a good first step to unite the opposition.”

Robredo is being eyed as the opposition standard-bearer by the newly formed 1Sambayan Coalition led by former Associate Justice Antonio Carpio. However, the Vice President continues to dither on her electoral plans.

Robredo’s lack of clear plans was also partly why former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV recently decided to throw in his name as a potential standard-bearer for the opposition. But he assured he would back out if and when Robredo decides definitively to run.