Vice President Leni G. Robredo has said that she has no plans to become president.
“Parati ko iyon inuulit, before until now. Wala naman ako ganoong pangarap,” Robredo said.
Robredo, who recently resigned from the Cabinet, explained that her dissenting voice on the policies of President Duterte doesn’t mean she is interested in taking over his post.
“Hindi ko sasabihin na kapag nag-didissent tayo, tayo na iyong gustong maging Pangulo,” she said. “President Duterte has the mandate of the Filipino people and tingin ko obligasyon nating suportahan siya,” the Vice President added.
Robredo has rebuked Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano who said Friday that she should “stop campaigning and thinking of the Presidency.”
The Vice President had challenged Cayetano to speak up against the Marcos family, especially in the hero’s burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City for President Ferdinand Marcos.
But in a Facebook post, the senator issued his own set of challenges to Robredo.
Among them is “help attract investments, build infrastructure, create jobs, and redistribute wealth in our country.”
Cayetano also challenged Robredo to demand the resignation and imprisonment of her party mates in the Liberal Party for alleged involvement in the illegal drugs trade and expose those involved in graft and corruption, and ask justice for the SAF 44 and “tanim bala” (bullet planting) victims, among others.
Robredo noted that her opposition to some policies of the Duterte administration does not mean she is impeding the success of government programs.
Cayetano and Robredo have been vocal against the former President and his son and namesake former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr., who also ran for vice president.
Robredo said former President Aquino and her Liberal Party running mate Manuel A. Roxas II knew she was resigning from the Duterte Cabinet.
“I talked to them when I decided to resign. Not only the two of them, but leaders of the (Liberal) Party,” she said.
“Before we made the decision public, we made sure that they would know it from me,” Robredo added.
(Raymund F. Antonio)