TACLOBAN CITY—The 16-year-old daughter of outgoing Mayor Alfred Romualdez and Mayor-elect Cristina Gonzales-Romualdez has apologized for her offensive tweet on Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo that went viral on Wednesday.
Sofia Romualdez said her post on Twitter describing Robredo as a “son of a bitch” (“p—ina”) and “dumb” (“bobo”) was “made out of frustration and anger.”
The teenager said she was reacting to Robredo’s lead over her rival, Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. Sofia’s father, Alfred, is a cousin of Marcos.
Robredo and Marcos are caught in a close race for Vice President, with Robredo edging out her rival by over 200,000 votes, as of Thursday night.
“I’m human and I make mistakes too, I’m sorry if I offended anyone,” Sofia tweeted on Wednesday afternoon before deactivating her Twitter account.
Her mother, a former starlet, also apologized on her daughter’s behalf, and said the Camarines Sur representative did not deserve such words.
“As a mother and most especially a Christian, I do not approve such words,” Cristina wrote on her Facebook account on Wednesday.
“Sofia is 16 so I believe she didn’t realize what she was doing,” she said, adding that her daughter was “apologetic and was learning.”
Wrote the mayor-elect: “Sofia already apologized so I hope we all forgive and love her [as] she is still very young.”
Marcos supporters have been bashing Robredo on social media since her votes started outpacing those of her closest rival.
One netizen even called Robredo “evil,” and said she wished the congresswoman had perished in that 2012 plane crash, instead of her husband, Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo.
In a TV interview, Robredo said she had been getting “vicious” messages on social media and was tempted to respond to some of them. On that plane crash death wish, Robredo said she wanted to tell the student that it was her wish as well, but later decided to let it pass. In the end, she gave a blanket absolution to all her bashers.
“Hindi pa sila nagkakasala, pinapatawad ko na sila (Even before they’ve committed an offense against me, I already forgive them),” she said.