Robredo clarifies: I never joined any anti-Duterte rally

Vice President Leni Robredo has clarified once and for all that she never joined any demonstration calling for the ouster of President Rodrigo Duterte.

 “I am not aware of, much less am I involved in, any effort to ‘oust’ the President,” Robredo said in a statement on Friday.

“Furthermore, I categorically deny joining rallies that called for the President’s ouster,” she said.

This was after Duterte, during his series of media interviews on Thursday, said he is not considering giving Robredo another place in his Cabinet because she was part of the “crowd that wanted him out,” apparently referring to the then Aquino-administration-backed Liberal Party.

“This is what happened. I gave her a favor because the Vice President has no job. I went out of my way, really. The problem is that they organized a demonstration. They called for (my) ouster,” Duterte said.

READ: Duterte not reopening Palace doors to Robredo

The Chief Executive also kept on mentioning in his interviews that he took offense at Robredo’s supposed participation in rallies against him for allowing the burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

But Robredo reiterated that she did not join any of the anti-Marcos rallies in November. Among the members of President Duterte’s Cabinet seen in the rally were Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo and Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano.

Even without her presence in the rallies, Robredo had issued strongly-worded statements opposing the burial of the deposed strongman and other policies of the Duterte administration, including  alleged extrajudicial killings in the country amid the drug war.

“It is the right of every citizen in our democracy to express her opinion, and this includes those critical of or in opposition to an incumbent government. This principle is a cornerstone of our free Republic,” she added.

“To my understanding, many criticisms of the President have come about as a reaction to his own actions and statements—the Marcos burial at Libingan ng mga Bayani, the ongoing extrajudicial killings, the proposed restoration of the death penalty, and the retreat from our West Philippine Sea claims, among others,” Robredo said.

She then advised the Duterte administration to stop paying attention to “every unflattering news report, irate citizens’ assembly, or angry Facebook post.”

“Criticism is not conspiracy, and the administration is well advised to stop seeing ‘plots’ behind every unflattering news report, irate citizens’ assembly, or angry Facebook post,” Robredo said.

“The President and I both took an oath to uphold the Constitution and I take this very seriously,” she said. CDG/rga