Naga execs back Robredo for VP

Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo CDN FILE PHOTO/LITO TECSON

NAGA CITY, Philippines—Members of the Liberal Party (LP) in this city will support third district Rep. Leni Robredo if she is chosen as vice-presidential running mate of Interior Secretary Mar Roxas in next year’s national elections.

Naga Mayor John Bongat, LP chair in the city, on Friday said Robredo had the qualifications to run for Vice President despite being a first-time legislator.

“She is very much qualified given her work ethic, dedication and character. But at the end of the day, the decision is hers,” Bongat said.

Local history

Robredo, a lawyer, endeared herself to the public as the grieving but calm widow of former Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, who died in a plane crash in Masbate on Aug. 18, 2013.

While a reluctant politician, she made local history by defeating a member of the Villafuerte clan, an entrenched political family in Camarines Sur, in the election for the seat of the third district in 2013.

Since then, Robredo has been lauded as a role model for good government and for maintaining the simple lifestyle of her late husband.

Naga Vice Mayor Nelson Legacion, another LP member, said members of the party in the city would support Robredo in a run for any national office.

Robredo had said she was considering running for reelection or for the Senate next year.

Legacion said the party members would wait for Robredo’s decision and that of the national LP leadership before taking action.

He said party members in the city had taken note of Robredo’s statement that she was more likely to run for the Senate.

Robredo will beat Chiz

But he said he was confident that Robredo would get a bigger “Bicol vote” than Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero, who is from Sorsogon, should the two run for Vice President, with Robredo running with Roxas and Escudero running with Sen. Grace Poe.

City Councilor Gabriel Bordado, also a member of the LP, said he firmly believed in Robredo’s “competence and capability to protect and promote” her husband’s legacy.

Bordado is a longtime follower of Jesse Robredo, the longest-serving mayor of this city (1988-1998 and 2001-2010).

“Leni has made a positive impact not only on her district, but also on the entire country,” Bordado said, adding that LP members in the city would support her in any race she would choose.

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