Vice President Leni Robredo interacts with supporters at a rally at the GenSan Oval Plaza in General Santos City on Tuesday, March 15, 2022. (VP Leni Media Bureau)
KIDAPAWAN CITY, Cotabato, Philippines — The other presidential bets attacking her are “just wasting their time” as she has never let her job get affected by criticisms, Vice President Leni Robredo said on Tuesday in an ambush interview with reporters after a rally here in this city.
She had been asked to respond to strongly-worded attacks against her by other camps like those of former Sen. Bongbong Marcos, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, and Sen. Panfilo Lacson.
“Only they can tell what their motivation is for picking on me,” Robredo said, speaking in a mix of English and Filipino. “But I’m already battle-scarred. Coming from six years of heavy bashing and trolling, I already know what to give my attention to and which not to.”
“I was able to take six [years] of these unfair accusations. They have not been a hindrance to the work that I do, especially during this campaign. So for me, whatever the intent for trying to derail what I’m doing, they’re just wasting their time,” she said.
Robredo did not respond to any specific criticism by a candidate, but just recently, after the Social Weather Stations (SWS) released satisfaction ratings for top government officials, the Marcos camp released a statement highlighting the decrease in Robredo’s net score.
Then last Saturday, Moreno criticized the way Robredo frequently referred to the poor as “those on the fringes of society” — “nasa laylayan ng lipunan. He said the poor are just poor, but dignified.
Then Lacson also grabbed headlines for claiming that Robredo’s campaign has been infiltrated by communists. He echoed sentiments of Cavite Rep. Boying Remulla who said that part of the 47,000-strong pro-Robredo rally participants were trained by the National Democratic Front.
Robredo’s team and supporters denied the accusations, saying that it was an affront to Cavite voters who only wished to exercise their rights.
Former Sen Antonio Trillanes IV, who is part of Robredo’s slate, dared Lacson to name the communists allegedly inside the vice president’s camp.
Lacson, a former chief of the Philippine National Police, said that it was reassuring that Robredo denied links to the Communist Party of the Philippines.
Recent surveys have shown that Robredo still ranks second in the presidential race: Pulse Asia’s poll from February 18 to 23 showed that Robredo was able to obtain 15 percent of votes if elections were held during those days.
However, she is still a far second as Marcos grabbed 60 percent of the votes.
Still, many supporters and even members of her camp remained optimistic about Robredo’s chances, saying that the survey has not yet captured the recent massive surge of support on the ground.