Vice President Leni Robredo (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)
MANILA — Not funny.
Vice President Leni Robredo said Wednesday she was not amused by President Duterte’s joke that she better pray for his plane to crash so she could succeed him, as she would not wish her late husband’s tragic fate upon anyone else.
She said she wished for Mr. Duterte to take better care of himself amid worrying reports about his health.
Speaking at a student forum in Cavite, a transcript of which was sent to reporters, Robredo took umbrage at the President’s words implying that she could not wait to get her hands on the presidency.
“First of all, I don’t know if he’s joking or he is trying to send a message, because if he is even slightly serious about the allegation or he is suggesting that we want something bad to happen to him, I think that is wrong,” she said in Filipino.
“At first I laughed but I did not laugh at his joke in Bukidnon when he said I was praying for his plane to crash. I lost my husband to a plane crash. That is not a joke,” she said.
Robredo is the widow of former Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, whose small plane crashed in waters off Masbate in August 2012.
Responding to reports and speculations about the state of the President’s health, Robredo said Mr. Duterte should take care of himself as the person with the mandate to lead the country.
“I think it is a matter of national interest that we know what he is going through. We wish that whatever illness he may have, that he overcome it. He is the one we elected to lead us. Our President needs to be strong,” she said.
Robredo said she remained supportive of the President even after quitting the Cabinet and emerging as the new voice of the opposition.
“I am his Vice President but he is President. What we only want is for our voices to be heard whenever we oppose his policies, but this does not mean we want something bad to happen to him,” she said. SFM