Robredo thanks Duterte for vow she will be VP until term ends

Vice President Leni Robredo is sworn in by President Rodrigo Duterte as the chairperson of Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council on July 12. She resigned from the post on Dec. 5 after receiving an order to “desist from attending all Cabinet meetings.” PHOTO FROM VP OFFICE

Thank you for the reassurance.

This was Vice President Leni Robredo’s message for President Rodrigo Duterte after the latter assured her that she would keep the vice presidency until the end of her term.

Asked to react on Duterte’s statement before Inquirer reporters and editors during the Meet Inquirer Multimedia Forum on Thursday, Robredo’s face lit up and said: “Thank you. I would like to see it as a reassurance.”

Robredo then said in jest: “Sana hindi lang sa Bicol sabihin (I hope he doesn’t say it just in Bicol) but all over the country.”

For the first time, Duterte addressed the rumors of the alleged plot to unseat Robredo during the groundbreaking ceremony of the Bicol International Airport in Legazpi City, Robredo’s bailiwick, on Thursday afternoon.

“I will assure Leni and the rest of the Bicol region that you will have her until the very end of her term. There is no such thing as removing of a vice president,” Duterte said.

Robredo then noted that she “would like to think” that she and the President, despite their opposing views on some issues, “had a very good working relationship.”

Back when she was still able to attend Cabinet meetings with Duterte, she said the President would respond whenever she shared with him the lessons she got from her field visits.

“Kaya nasayangan ako (I felt it was a waste). I didn’t see it coming. I thought despite our political differences, we will be able to transcend them,” she said.

Robredo resigned as Duterte’s housing czar after receiving an order from the President to “desist from attending Cabinet meetings.”/rga