Vice President Leni Robredo (Photo by Charlie Villegas / OVP)
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo would rather defeat fellow presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in the 2022 elections instead of seeing him being disqualified from the race.
Robredo said defeating Marcos would put an end to his “narrative” that he was cheated in the 2016 vice presidential race.
“Ayokong mag-comment dun sa disqualification case, but if you were to ask me, mas gusto ko talunin natin siya sa eleksyon para matapos na ito,” Robredo said in an interview on CNN Philippines’ News Night on Thursday, when asked if she thinks Marcos should be disqualified.
(I don’t want to comment on the disqualification cases against him, but if you were to ask me, I would rather defeat him in the coming elections to put an end to all of this.)
Marcos is facing several disqualification cases against his presidential bid in the upcoming May elections.
Former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. files his certificate of candidacy (COC) for president on October 6, 2021, at the Sofitel Harbor Garden Tent in Pasay City. (INQUIRER.net file photo / Daniza Fernandez)
“Kailangan talagang talunin siya sa susunod na eleksyon para once and for all, mahinto na yung ginagawa niya na pagpapapaniwala sa tao nung narrative na gusto niyang i-push,” Robredo went on.
(He has to be defeated in the coming elections so that once and for all, his narrative that he is pushing will stop.)
“Yung narrative nung natalo ko siya sa eleksyon—dahil ino-own niya yung social media—ang daming naniniwala na dinaya ko siya…ito yung narrative na pinupush niya,” she also said.
(The narrative that when I beat him in the last elections—because he is owning social media—a lot of people believe that I cheated my way to win over him…this is the narrative he is pushing.)
Robredo and Marcos were toe-to-toe in the vice presidential race in 2016. Robredo edged Marcos by just a little over 260,000 votes.
After his 2016 defeat, Marcos launched a poll protest against.
The Supreme Court, however, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, unanimously dismissed Marcos’ complaint for lack of merit as recounts revealed Robredo’s votes even increased.