Over 10,000 Ilocanos gather for the Isabela People’s Rally held at the Echague Banchetto Grounds on Saturday, March 12, for presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo who admitted she was nervous about her trip to Cagayan and Isabela, because they are part of the so-called Solid North. VP Leni Media Bureau
KIDAPAWAN CITY, North Cotabato — Vice President Leni Robredo is open to the possibility of political rivals endorsing her presidential bid, as long as it is not based on a “transactional” relationship where politicians may expect something in return.
Robredo was asked about the topic on Tuesday, as many observers believe that President Rodrigo Duterte’s remarks on who the next president should have appeared as an endorsement for the Vice President.
Robredo and Duterte have traded barbs for several years now, as they are both considered leaders of the administration and opposition blocs. However, the President recently said that he hopes the next president is a ‘lawyer’ and will be ‘compassionate’ — two traits found in the Vice President.
“‘Yon ‘yong isa sa mga dahilan kung bakit nag-run ako as independent, mas symbolic sa akin ‘yong pagpapakita na willing ako to work with anyone kahit ‘yong mga tao na in the past maraming mga differences,” Robredo told reporters in Kidapawan City.
“As long as hindi transactional ‘yong relationship, tapos as long as mas marami kaming mapagkakasunduan kaysa sa aming hindi pagkakasundo,” she added.
According to Robredo, she actually has not treated any political rival as an enemy, as she has been professional about her job.
“Wala akong tini-treat na kalaban, wala akong tini-treat na kalaban, para sa akin ‘yong trabaho, trabaho. Pwedeng di kami nagkaka-sundo sa ibang mga paniniwala pero hindi gustong sabihin na hindi na kami magkakasundo sa iba,” she noted.
Aside from netizens, PDP-Laban vice president for Visayas and Eastern Samar Gov. Ben Evardone also think that Duterte already made suggestions that he is endorsing Robredo.
“For me and for millions of Filipinos, there is only one decisive and compassionate lawyer among those aspiring to be President and she is VP Leni,” Evardone, a close ally of President Duterte, said in a statement.
“She’s the only one who can hurdle President Duterte’s standard for his successor,” he added. “We welcome and support the high bar President Duterte has set for his successor. He knows whereof he speaks, and we understand it. It is the same standard with which he tries to measure himself in governing the nation.
READ: PDP-Laban honcho and Duterte ally Evardone backs Robredo
Duterte’s daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, is running in the national elections also but as vice president, partnering with former senator Bongbong Marcos who is leading the surveys.
However, there has been no indication that the older Duterte would endorse Marcos, whom he called a ‘weak’ leader.
RELATED STORIES:
Duterte takes jab at Bongbong Marcos anew, calls him ‘weak leader’
Marcos camp still waiting, ‘hopeful’ of Duterte endorsement