Isko criticizes Leni’s description of the poor

Manila City Mayor FRancisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso (left) and Vice President Leni Robredo. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS

MANILA, Philippines — Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso took a not-so-veiled swipe at Vice President Leni Robredo on Friday and criticized her supposed elitism and arrogance when she describes the poor as “being in the fringes of society.”

“We need to be careful with our words. You know what they call the poor, ‘those in the fringes of society?’ We’re not the fringes—we are just poor,” the Aksyon Demokratiko standard-bearer said in a press conference in Nueva Ecija.

While he did not name anybody, the 47-year-old former actor used the word “laylayan” (hem or fringe), a term Robredo had been using in speeches since her vice-presidential campaign in 2016 to refer to marginalized and vulnerable sectors.

“The reason you call us fringes is because you’re looking down on us … which means you look at yourself as being above us,” said Moreno, whose presidential campaign has capitalized on his story as an impoverished youth from Tondo rising to become the leader of the nation’s capital.

READ: Mud on her feet: Robredo’s ‘laylayan’ days

He took offense at what he described as the condescending and elitist connotation of the word.

“Can we cure or find solutions to poverty if we call them the fringes of society? ” he asked.

Moreno also poked fun at former Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for purportedly relating to the Marvel character Ant-Man, a convicted thief who became a superhero.

“From thief to hero, that’s the story, right? I think I watched that back in the day,” he said to laughter.

In an earlier interview, Marcos’ wife Liza Araneta had said her husband arrived at the decision to run for president while watching the 2015 Marvel movie.