Robredo camp hits Marcos: Stealing is 'unpatriotic'

MANILA, Philippines — The camp of Vice President Leni Robredo on Wednesday shot back at losing vice presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. following his statement in Pampanga suggesting that not all votes from the province were counted during last year’s national election.

Barry Gutierrez, legal adviser to the vice president, said in a statement that the comment of Marcos was an “outright” lie.

“Former Senator Bongbong Marcos’ allegations that votes were not counted in Pampanga are not only self-serving but are outright lies,” Gutierrez said.

On Wednesday afternoon, Marcos attended the birthday celebration of Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo in her home province where he thanked Kapampangans for supporting him in last year’s vice presidential election. He, however, made a claim that not all their votes were counted.

Marcos also criticized Robredo for her video recorded message at a United Nations (UN) side event where she offered a comprehensive critique of the government’s brutal campaign against illegal drugs.

He said the vice president's message showed that she was “unpatriotic” and “disloyal” to the nation.

Marcos received more than 43 percent of Pampanga’s votes last year against Robredo’s 29 percent. He, however, lost the election by a slim margin of more than 200,000 votes.

The well-financed Marcos filed an electoral protest against Robredo alleging irregularities in 662 poll precincts. Robredo said that so far Marcos submitted affidavits covering only 57 voting precincts.

Gutierrez questioned Marcos’ camp for not including Pampanga in his protest if his allegations that some votes in the area were not counted were true.

Robredo’s legal adviser said that this latest comment from the son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos was just an attempt to “sway public opinion” and make his case a trial by publicity rather than one based on fact and merit.

Gutierrez also scored Marcos for his “disloyal” comments against the vice president, saying stealing billions from the country’s coffers was the unpatriotic behavior rather than stating the truth.

“Hindi ba mas unpatriotic pa rin ang magnakaw ng bilyon sa kaban ng bayan kaysa simpleng magsabi lang ng totoo?” he said.

The Marcos family accumulated billions of pesos in ill-gotten wealth from the country and stashed some of the money away in banks abroad. Marcos’ reign was also marked by serious violations of human rights and the weakening of governmental institutions.