Robredo says team won’t be swayed amid withdrawals, substitutions, political spectacle

Novo Ecijanos hand pink roses to Vice President Leni Robredo as she passed by the stationary caravan for Leni-Kiko in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija, on Monday, November 15, 2021. While some brought flowers, other Novo Ecijanos who joined the caravan waved pink balloons and pink lanterns to express their support for VP Leni’s presidential bid in 2022. (Photo by OVP Photographers)

MANILA, Philippines — The withdrawals and substitutions of candidates will not affect the team of Vice President Leni Robredo, who vowed to just focus, go on, and move forward with their activities despite the emergence of some political drama.

During an ambush interview in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, Robredo said it is the right of aspirants and political parties to proceed however they want to in their nominations adding that the latest movements were kind of expected for some political personalities.

For example, she said, they have anticipated that at least one Duterte will run for a national position in next year’s polls.

As the deadline for candidate substitutions closed Monday, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and his father, President Rodrigo Duterte, substituted for certain candidates for vice president and senator, respectively. Although under different political parties: the mayor will be running for vice president under Lakas-CMD while the President will be running for senator under the Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan.

Duterte-Carpio resigned from the regional Hugpong ng Pagbabago party she founded to join Lakas-CMD while Duterte did not file his candidacy as a stalwart of the PDP-Laban which he currently chairs.

“Sa akin kasi, expected. Kami, noong kami nag-file ng aming candidacy, kabahagi na siya sa expectation na siguradong may Duterteng magfa-file either for president or vice president,” Robredo told reporters.

(For me, that’s expected. When we filed our own certificates of candidacy, it is already included in our expectation that a Duterte would file his or her candidacy either for president or vice president.)

“Pero iyong sa amin lang, dahil expected siya, hindi naman talagang maaapektuhan iyong aming lakad. Karapatan naman nila. Karapatan nila mag-desisyon para sa kanila,” she added.

(But for us, because we expected it, it would not change our movements. That’s their right, it is within their right to decide for themselves.)

Nothing would be changed in their activities, Robredo stressed.

READ: Robredo surprised over warm public response to presidential bid, unaffected by ‘frontrunner’

“Sa amin, tuloy lang kami. Tuloy lang kami. Mas focused kami sa aming mga activities lalo itong pagpapasalamat sa ating mga supporters, na hindi magpapaapekto sa galaw ng ibang mga kandidato,” she explained.

(For us, we would just go on. We’ll just move forward. We are more focused on our activities especially thanking our supporters, which means we would not be affected by the decisions of other candidates.)

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