FILE PHOTOVice President Leni Robredo (left) and Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan (right)
MANILA, Philippines — Senator Francis Pangilinan on Monday defended Vice President Leni Robredo from claims that her work was limited, saying that frontline and healthcare workers across the country have attested to getting help from the Office of the Vice President (OVP).
During a press briefing on Monday, Pangilinan responded to questions about Robredo’s capability, as some groups claim that her supposedly successful COVID-19 response was confined to the OVP — in contrast to other government officials who had a specific jurisdiction to look after.
He said that these may be fake information, as their recent visits to provinces revealed that people as far as Bicol Region, Tarlac, Cebu, and Palawan were aided by OVP.
“Mag-iingat din tayo doon sa mga ganiyang klaseng paratang kasi maaaring fake news. Nasa Tarlac kami, ganoon din. Tumayo iyong isang frontliner, isang doktor at sinabi sa Tarlac, ang unang magbigay ng PPEs at tulong sa kanila ay ang tanggapan ng Vice President,” Pangilinan, who is seeking the vice presidency in the 2022 polls, said.
“So, I’m sure mayroong mga maglalabas ng paratang pero I strongly urge, you know, our citizens to cross-check the facts. Because baka nga fake news ang mga paratang na self-serving at hindi totoo,” he added.
Pangilinan further said that Robredo’s efforts with OVP should be seen as a sample size of what she can offer if she is elected president, as her office operated with limited resources but was still able to deliver much-needed output.
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck the country, Robredo transformed her office’s anti-poverty programs to health support measures, like providing free shuttles, free dormitories, and free personal protective equipment to health workers.
Recently, OVP opened telemedicine channels, mobile testing, and drive-thru vaccinations, all with the help of the private sector.
“At kung nagawa na ni Vice President Leni iyan sa karampot na budget ng OVP, you can imagine anong puwede niya pang gawin kapag siya na ang pangulo. Talagang masusing pagtugon sa problema ng COVID [ang] maaasahan,” he added.
Robredo also mentioned several instances where doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers thanked her for providing medical equipment at the thick of the pandemic.
According to the Vice President, questions on her efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic can be answered by the fact that she has a know-how of what is happening on the ground — because she was really working with those on the ground.
“Halimbawa, galing pa lang ako sa Bacolod. Na-amaze ako sobrang active noong Doctors for Leni doon. And noong nakausap ko sila, ang sinasabi nila, ‘Ma’am, noong nangangailangan kami ng tulong, ikaw lang iyong pinaka-unang tumulong sa amin’. So I don’t think it was limited to just the OVP,” Robredo explained.
“Hindi ko nakikita na may ibang opisinang nagawa iyong nagawa namin. And hindi kami naging limited lang sa Metro Manila […] Hindi ako armchair na leader. Dis oras ng gabi, mga alas-dos ng umaga, alas-tres ng umaga, alas-kuwatro ng umaga, naka-duty pa ako. Kaya hindi ako makukuwentahan ng nangyayari on the ground,” she added.
Under the 1987 Constitution, the sitting vice president has no specific role aside from succession, unless the incumbent administration appoints him or her to a cabinet post.
Critics of the Vice President on social media have pointed out that Robredo was able to do her work as she did not have an official function, which would be a different case if she were mayor or governor of a particular locale.
However, Robredo herself was not given any role in the national government’s COVID-19 response — even if she had asked the administration last September to appoint her to a post and give her blanket authority to solve the pandemic woes.
Robredo and Pangilinan are running in the 2022 national elections as a tandem, with a platform centered on COVID-19 response and food security, which is the latter’s expertise.
Earlier, Robredo revealed more details into her COVID-19 plan, saying that she will try to stop corruption by placing a Health secretary who would be held accountable for his or her actions.
It was one of the ten pointers she raised, including promises to fix the problems in the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), providing proper salaries to health workers and social aid to people living in areas under a lockdown, a national vaccination program, and support to the workforce and businesses.