Leni keeps mum on election recount case

Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo on Tuesday refused to comment on the ongoing election protest filed against her by former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

In an interview, Robredo noted the gag order issued by the Supreme Court (SC) sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), which prevented both camps from discussing the proceedings in connection with the election protest.

Robredo, in the same interview, also took full responsibility for the controversial photo of her and other Liberal Party (LP) lawmakers at the Holocaust Memorial in Germany.

READ: Leni apologizes for Holocaust Memorial photo

Robredo on Tuesday attended the Asian Forum on Enterprise for Society (Afes) 2018 in Pasay City where she was introduced by businessman Ramon del Rosario as the “one and only duly elected” vice president of the country.

Del Rosario made the introduction before Robredo delivered her keynote speech at the Asian Forum on Enterprise for Society (Afes) 2018 in Pasay City.

Robredo said she was elated by Del Rosario’s introduction as he thanked the businessman.

“Thank you very much for the generous introduction and thank you for emphasizing that I’m the one and only vice president,” she said.

The PET is currently facilitating the manual recount of ballots from 5,418 precincts in three provinces selected by Marcos: Camarines Sur, Iloilo, and Negros Oriental.

The recount seeks to ascertain the number of votes received by Robredo and Marcos in the May 9, 2016 national elections.

The Afes forum gathered around 250 participants, including Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) leaders and luminaries in the corporate social responsibility sphere.

In her speech, Robredo emphasized that re-imagining the country’s future in the age of technological revolution is not easy.

She said that while people have found accessible platforms to inform the world of important issues, people’s “anger is fueling wars both physically and digitally, and evil forces are harnessing this wrath for selfish needs.”

The Vice President thus said the poor and marginalized should be prioritized in the decison-making of the government.

But she said these platforms, such as social media sites, could also be used to effect social transformation and uplift human condition.     /muf