Duterte clears Robredo in ‘destabilization’ efforts

FILE – Vice President Leni Robredo.
INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said Vice President Leni Robredo had nothing to do with  what he called “destabilization” efforts against him.

Duterte made the remark in a press conference in Malacañang, where he also accused mining firms of funding the political opposition’s supposed destabilization plot against his administration to make him “unpopular.”

““Kayong mga mining (You miners), I know you are funding the opposite side. I know that some of you are funding the other side to destabilize [my administration]. If the police and the military will allow it, that’s their problem,” Duterte said.

“Pero hindi ko sinasabi na kasama si Leni ha (I’m not saying Leni is among them). I don’t want to drag her name,” the President added.

As far as the military is concerned, Duterte’s Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said there was no existing destabilization plot against the administration contrary to what other Cabinet members were saying. Lorenzana noted that criticisms against the administration do not amount to ouster schemes.

The relationship between the two highest officials in the land got strained after Duterte barred Robredo from attending Cabinet meetings last year supposedly due to policy differences, which prompted the Vice President to quit her Cabinet post as housing czar. The two shared the stage once again over the weekend during the graduation rites of the Philippine Military Academy.

Since her resignation from the Cabinet, Robredo, who is also the interim chair of the erstwhile ruling Liberal Party, had been more vocal on her opposition to the administration’s policies, including the brutal war on drugs and the revival of the death penalty.

The Vice President and her late husband Jesse Robredo have been the target of malicious online hoaxes dubbed as “Naga Leaks,” which linked the late the Interior secretary to gambling and illegal drugs in their hometown. President Duterte earlier denied hand in the anonymous attacks against the Robredos, calling the allegations “garbage” and “black propaganda.”