Leni calls on Rody

No Cabinet post offered to VP    

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Leni Robredo called on President Duterte at Malacañang yesterday, telling him that his success is the country’s success and committing her full support.

Presidential Communications Office chief Secretary Martin Andanar said last night that Duterte did not offer a Cabinet position to Robredo, who ran under the Liberal Party.

Further details of the first formal meeting between Duterte and Robredo were not made available to the public. They briefly met during last Friday’s turnover of command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines at Camp Aguinaldo.

Robredo described yesterday’s meeting as “very cordial” and Duterte “warm and accommodating.”

She did not say whether the President offered her a Cabinet post or if they even discussed the matter.

Duterte was heard offering Robredo a snack, which she declined.

Andanar and presidential  spokesman Ernesto Abella were mum on the details of the meeting, which was seen to further thaw relations between the country’s top officials.

Robredo said she told the President that she was there to personally convey to him her full support for his government.

“I told him that his success is also our country’s success,” she said. “From the start, we are open to the idea of working closely with the new administration and my meeting this afternoon with the President attests to that.”

 A short clip of Robredo’s arrival at the Palace was posted on the Facebook page of the Presidential Broadcast Staff.

She was wearing a light blue dress with a beige blazer while Duterte was in a beige shirt with sleeves rolled up and khaki pants matched with a pair of brown boots. 

Special assistant to the President Christopher Go welcomed Robredo to the Palace and brought her to the study room where the closed-door meeting was held.

After the meeting the President accompanied Robredo back to her vehicle.

When she bowed to shake hands with him, he said to her: “Do not bow to me. I get embarrassed. Do not put too much into it.” 

Hours before the meeting, Robredo urged Filipinos to support the Duterte administration for the good of the country. 

“As Vice President, I believe my top responsibility is to help rally everyone behind the new government. This administration deserves our support,” Robredo said in her speech at the Tapatan sa Aristocrat media forum in Manila.

“This is not just for President Duterte, this is for the entire nation,” she said. Robredo has expressed full support for Duterte even as the President had repeatedly said he would not give her any Cabinet post so as not to offend his friend, Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Robredo defeated Marcos by a slim margin in the last elections.

Marcos has filed an election protest, questioning Robredo’s victory.

The Vice President, who belongs to the Liberal Party, said the country could not afford to lose time bickering, as the new administration needs to address a number of social issues.

“This is the right time to bring everyone together and rally behind the new administration,” she said.

 “There’s a lot to be done. Six years is a long time, but because there’s so much to do, that’s a brief period,” she said. – With Christina Mendez