Isko Moreno refuses to apologize, reiterates call for Leni Robredo to quit race

FILE PHOTO: Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso during a press conference at the Manila Peninsula on Sunday, April 17, 2022. INQUIRER FILES

SAN FRANCISCO, Agusan del Sur — No apologies.

Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso on Tuesday stood by his call for Vice President Leni Robredo to drop out of the presidential race, saying he wouldn’t apologize for his honest opinion despite receiving brickbats and little support from his fellow participants in the controversial Easter press conference.

“I don’t apologize for something I believe that is fair. I don’t say sorry for something I did that was within reason,” he told reporters ahead of a town hall meeting here in this land-locked municipality in northeastern Mindanao.

Digging his heels in, Domagoso reiterated his call for Robredo to withdraw from the contest, arguing that other less hated candidates might have a better chance of defeating former Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who has topped pre-election polls by a wide margin.

READ: Moreno calls on Robredo to withdraw from presidential race

The Aksyon Demokratiko standard-bearer repeatedly called the vice president’s camp and her so-called yellow-pink forces bullies who would “cancel” anybody for having a different opinion by deploying social media trolls to attack them.

The 47-year-old mayor made the comments after Sen. Panfilo Lacson and former defense chief Norberto Gonzales, who on Tuesday apologized to Robredo, distanced themselves from his withdrawal call.

“It was me who said, ‘be a hero, withdraw, Leni.’ I said that, not Senator Lacson. Not Secretary Norberto Gonzales. Let me repeat, withdraw, Leni. That’s just from me alone. Don’t speculate anymore. Withdraw, Leni, let me sub for you,” he said.

READ: ‘Taste of their own medicine’: Isko Moreno doubles down on pushing Robredo’s withdrawal

Domagoso cited his impoverished youth in the slums of Tondo as what gave him the resolve to retaliate against bullies.

“I was made stronger by the situation in my life when young. All my life, many people have bullied me, and even now, these yellow-pinks are still bullies. And I will not let go. You are bullies, and it has to stop,” he said.

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