Robredo: 2022 polls a choice between ‘transformative’ and ‘patronage’ politics
Vice President Leni Robredo. (File photo by OVP)
MANILA, Philippines — The approaching election this May is not a mere race between presidential aspirants as it will be an important decision that people have to make about what kind of politics they want to reign in the country.
Vice President Leni Robredo made this assertion on Thursday, reiterating that what she is offering the nation is transformative politics without patronage – different from what her archrival, former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., is promising.
In an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel’s Rundown, the presidential aspirant was asked how important the May 2022 election is. In response, Robredo said that the kind of politics she wants is not “bad.”
“The 2022 elections is not just a fight between two or more candidates but it’s actually a decision that we have to make. Ano bang klaseng pulitika ‘yung gusto nating manaig sa atin? Ano bang klase ng governance ‘yung gusto nating manaig sa atin?” she asked.
(The 2022 election is not just a fight between two or more candidates but it’s actually a decision that we have to make. What kind of politics do we want to have? What kind of governance do we want to prevail over the country?)
“Kasi, what I’m offering is so […] different from what Mr. Marcos is offering. ‘Yong the kind of politics, ako– ako para sa akin mas transformative, ayaw ko ng patronage politics. Sa akin, ‘yong gusto kong pulitika na ‘yung pulitika hindi siya masama,” she added.
(Because what I’m offering is so […] different from what Mr. Marcos is offering. The kind of politics that I offer, for me, is more transformative, I don’t want patronage politics. The politics I want is a politics that is not bad.)
The decisions that people would make in the May polls would ultimately define the direction of the country for the next six years, Robredo explained.
“So, para sa akin (for me), there’s so much at stake, pero (but) what’s at stake is not just my winning or losing these elections but what– what is the direction that we would want our government to take in the next six years,” she added.
Robredo and Marcos Jr. appear to be on the verge of another battle, just as they have squared off for the vice presidency in 2016. While Robredo emerged as the winner of that contest, she won by a narrow margin of around 260,000 votes — leading Marcos Jr. to claim that electoral fraud happened.
But Marcos Jr.’s petition was unanimously junked by the Supreme Court which sat as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal after the former senator failed to provide sufficient evidence of cheating.
READ: PET dismisses Marcos poll protest vs Robredo, stresses ‘entire’ case junked
A recent survey of Pulse Asia showed that Robredo has 20 percent of the respondents’ votes if elections were held during the survey period of December 1-6. While this was an increase from her previous numbers, Robredo was a far second to Marcos Jr., who leads all presidential aspirants with 53 percent of the respondents picking him.
This has led Robredo’s spokesperson, lawyer Barry Gutierrez to say that it appears that the 2022 polls are shaping to be another Robredo-Marcos contest, as other candidates like Senators Manny Pacquiao and Panfilo Lacson, and Manila City Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso lagged way behind.
READ: Pulse Asia’s December survey: Marcos and Duterte-Carpio team is top choice
READ: 2022 clearly a Robredo vs Marcos contest – OVP
But in case she would not win the presidency, Robredo said she would be going back to promoting her advocacies — stressing that she has been a development worker and an alternative worker before she was thrust into politics due to the untimely death of her husband, former Interior chief Jesse Robredo.
“I was a development worker and an alternative lawyer for many, many years. I have just been a politician for close to nine years. So, para sa akin (for me), it will not be difficult for me to go back to the life I was lead– leading before my husband died and before I entered politics,” she said.
“That is working very, very closely with the margins. I will still continue with all my advocacies. Siguro dagdagan lang ngayon. Before kasi ang advocacy ko is really empowering through legal education, pero siguro ngayon I will also be heavily involved with education. That is, education and governance. That is actually the main focus of the Jesse M. Robredo Foundation,” she added.
(That is working very, very closely with the margins. I will still continue with all my advocacies. Maybe I will just add some advocacies now. Because before, my advocacy was really to empower through legal education, but maybe now I will also be heavily involved with education. That is, education and governance. That is actually the main focus of the Jesse M. Robredo Foundation.)
