Former Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello (INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO)
MANILA, Philippines — Vice presidential aspirant and former party-list Rep. Walden Bello on Thursday lauded presidential aspirant Vice President Leni Robredo for her “bravery” in facing vicious online attacks from political rivals.
Bello, who is running with labor leader Leody de Guzman, said he admires Robredo for her “personal integrity and bravery” in undertaking the campaign “despite the most horrible misogynist attacks on her on the internet,” by individuals whose candidates “don’t have even one-sixteenth” of Robredo’s courage.
“Leni may not be on the same page as Leody and I, and our respective campaigns have our differences, but we salute her for standing up to and braving the mean, gutter-minded, and salivating attack dogs of Marcos and Duterte,” Bello said in a Facebook post.
Vice President Leni Robredo discusses her platform of governance and shares some of her proposals in addressing issues the country is facing today when she faced members of the media in Sorsogon City last October 29, 2021. (Photo by Charlie Villegas / OVP)
Robredo, a staunch critic of President Duterte’s drug war, is running against Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., son and namesake of the country’s former president.
She defeated Marcos Jr. for the vice presidency in 2016.
Online attacks against Robredo have increased further across social media platforms since she launched her bid for the presidency.
Robredo and her daughters have also been victims of disinformation online.
Recently, a fabricated report claimed that one of her daughters was detained in the United States in 2017.