Robredo sees Marcos factor

Ultimate goal: Oust VP – Leni

MANILA, Philippines - Cabinet officials supporting former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. may have plotted her removal as chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), Vice President Leni Robredo said yesterday.

A day after being told through text message not to attend Cabinet meetings, Robredo yesterday tendered her resignation as HUDCC chair, saying remaining in President Duterte’s Cabinet had become “untenable.”

“There are members of the Cabinet who don’t want me there, but Bongbong Marcos instead,” she said, referring to Marcos by his nickname.

“Bongbong joined the President in China, and he was introduced as vice president. But I endured all of these,” she said in a press conference. “They are trying to ease me out. There’s no longer sense (for me to stay in the Cabinet).”

She hedged when asked if she would lead the opposition, saying she would continue to support government projects that “still deserve support.”

“It depends on how you will define the opposition,” she told reporters, even as she vowed to strongly oppose policies “that I think are detrimental” to the people.

On Sunday, Robredo said she had been warned about a plot to “steal” the vice presidency from her.

She said she decided to quit after receiving a text message from Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr. on Saturday, telling her to stop attending Cabinet meetings on Duterte’s instructions.

“It’s part of the plot. No one knew about it except for my children and some of my staff. Even my mother was not aware about it. But there were tweets from Bongbong Marcos’ group saying goodbye to me. It only confirms what we’ve been warned about,” she said.

Robredo urged the public to remain vigilant and “not to allow the return of dictatorship.”

“My appeal to the Filipino people – let’s not allow the vice presidency to be stolen,” she said, stressing that the mandate was given to her by the people and not by President Duterte.

Robredo recalled that as early as Friday, her chief-of-staff Boyet Dy had already received a call from Evasco telling him that the Vice President is barred from attending Cabinet meetings “until further notice.”

She said she had thought she could still attend Cabinet meetings until Malacañang made the statement official.

The Vice President said she was told by Evasco in a text message not to attend the Cabinet meetings “so as not to aggravate the situation.” It was not clear what “situation” he was talking about.

Robredo said she sent four text messages to Presidential Management Staff chief Bong Go to confirm the President’s order but he did not reply.

She said she had no direct line to the President and had relayed all her messages to Go.

“I waited for a confirmation from the President through Bong Go until we discussed what to do. If I’m not allowed to attend (Cabinet meetings), I think I’m being fired,” she said.

Robredo said she does not believe Malacañang’s statement that “irreconcilable differences” between her and Duterte was the reason behind his decision to ban her from Cabinet meetings.

“I think it’s not policy differences. We saw the statements of Communications Sec. Martin Andanar and presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella, that they recognized the good things I did with housing. I don’t think even the President or anyone in the Cabinet could say that I failed as HUDCC chair,” the Vice President said, noting that she even spent her Sundays working at HUDCC.

Marcos burial issue

She said her strong statement against the burial of Marcos’ father, the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos, at the Libingan ng mga Bayani could also be one of the reasons for her ouster.

Robredo said it was hard for her to leave HUDCC, especially after discovering the extent of the housing problem in the country.

She said she would continue to work to provide low-cost but decent houses to poor Filipinos.

“It’s not because I’m no longer with HUDCC I will no longer work to address housing problems,” she said.

Robredo said socialized housing would be one of the advocacies of the Office of the Vice President. 

In her resignation letter yesterday, Robredo stressed that she has exerted all effort to put aside their differences and maintain a professional working relationship with Duterte.

“However, your directive for me to ‘desist from attending all Cabinet meetings’ has effectively made it impossible for me to do my job. Remaining in your Cabinet has become untenable,” Robredo told the President in her letter.

Hours after filing her resignation letter, the Office of the Vice President reported the major accomplishments made by the HUDCC under Robredo’s five-month leadership, including streamlining the application process for socialized housing.

Under Robredo, the Social Housing Finance Corp. (SHFC), one of the agencies under HUDCC,  issued new guidelines, allowing communities and homeowners’ associations to avail themselves of its high-density housing and the community mortgage program with only nine documents from the previous 27, the OVP statement said.

The OVP said the reduced documentary requirements also cut the cost on the part of community associations by as much as ?117,000.

It said the National Housing Authority (NHA) has also shortened the period of processing the certificates of tax exemption for transfers of raw land intended for urgent socialized housing projects from one year to six months.

HUDCC was also able to provide low-cost housing for at least 46,000 families as of Sept. 31, it said.

The OVP said Robredo also worked to fast-track the construction of permanent houses for the victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda.

It said at least 17,000 more homes are expected to be built once the implementing rules and regulations for the Urban Development and Housing Act (RA 7279) are signed this month.

In July, Duterte called the Vice President while on a live broadcast over government station PTV-4, to ask her if she would like to head the HUDCC.

Duterte used the phone of Presidential Management Staff head Christopher “Bong” Go to call the Vice President.

“Pwede ba housing, Ma’am (Is housing OK with you)? Can you be the housing secretary? Tanggapin mo, ma’am (Will you accept)?” the President asked Robredo.

“The executive secretary will hand you the appointment.”

Robredo accepted the post during their phone conversation.

In a statement, she also noted that addressing the housing shortage had been an advocacy of her late husband, former interior secretary Jesse Robredo.

HUDCC was among the agencies covered by Duterte’s first executive order, which reorganized several offices to streamline poverty reduction programs of the government.

Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte, meanwhile, expressed her support for Robredo’s decision to quit the Cabinet.

“If she feels in her heart that she can no longer carry out the duties as the HUDCC chair, given the environment she is working in, and that this is the best way that she can serve the people, by resigning from her post and acting independently of the administration, I support her,” Belmonte said in an ambush interview.

Belmonte said she also respects the prerogative of President Duterte to pick or remove members of his Cabinet.

She added she hopes Robredo’s vice presidency would not be challenged anymore and that reports of an ouster ploy were just hearsay.

“I trust the electoral process and I believe she is the duly elected vice president.”

Belmonte also denied insinuations by some groups that the Liberal Party was plotting Duterte’s ouster.

The LP, she stressed, is committed to supporting the Duterte administration. “All moves of political parties should be towards reconciliation, not divisiveness. That’s my appeal to the nation,” the vice mayor said.