The breakup

You have to be hibernating in a cave since July to miss the fact that President Duterte does not take public criticism gracefully.

He has rained expletives on US President Barack Obama, heaped insults on the former US ambassador, announced he would cut Manila’s ties with Washington (but later retracted), and skipped key events at the ASEAN and APEC summits to avoid bumping into Obama – all because US officials criticized his human rights record and the conduct of his war on drugs.

For similar reasons, Du30 has threatened to withdraw Philippine membership in the United Nations. And he seems bent on fulfilling his promise to “kill softly” Sen. Leila de Lima, who wants to hold him accountable for extrajudicial killings since his days as Davao City mayor.

So Vice President Leni Robredo was either deliberately testing the limits of Du30’s tolerance for free speech or simply tone-deaf as she kept issuing public statements criticizing the person who appointed her to his Cabinet.

Such criticisms are better given outside the reach of media microphones, and best given when the President asks for them. But perhaps Robredo was never asked for her opinion and never found a forum within the administration for ventilating her observations about the issues that she believed warranted comments from the Vice President.

So she openly criticized the President over numerous issues, from human rights and extrajudicial killings to Du30’s public admiration for her smooth knees and, most contentious of all, the burial of dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Most everyone saw the break coming between Du30 and his Vice. The only surprising aspect was that it happened so quickly, without even reaching Christmas.

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The break is not yet complete, as Robredo remains undecided on taking on the role of opposition leader. The other day when her resignation from the Cabinet took effect, she told reporters she would remain supportive of Du30’s policies, programs and pronouncements that merit support for serving the national interest.

Being the constitutional successor, the vice president stands to benefit in case the president is incapacitated or ousted. So leading the political opposition against a popularly elected president can open the VP to charges of opportunism.

This was why Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, when she was VP, kept her mouth shut (until EDSA II), no matter how much she was badgered for comments by the press when Joseph Estrada was lurching from one scandal to the next during his short-lived presidency.

Her silence earned her the moniker “the Sphinx,” but GMA is not one to be goaded by name-calling or sniping. There was another reason she refrained from openly criticizing president Erap: she was a member of his official family, serving as secretary of social welfare and development.

For similar reasons, Jejomar Binay held his tongue when he was VP, quitting as housing chief first before launching his tirades against the administration of Noynoy Aquino. With P-Noy in his final year, the break no longer seemed like part of any effort to unseat him so Binay could take over. Instead it was seen mainly as the informal launch of Binay’s bid for the presidency.

Because Cabinet members are alter egos of the appointing power, agreeing to be part of the president’s official family implies general support for the policies and programs of the chief executive.

Naturally, it’s rare for Cabinet members to always agree with the president on everything. This is where consultations come in. Disagreements are supposed to be discussed and threshed out at Cabinet meetings, outside the media spotlight. Divergent opinions can also be raised when the president asks for inputs in crafting policy.

What presidents dislike, whether they are dictators like Ferdinand Marcos or champions of civil liberties like Corazon Aquino, are Cabinet members who publicly criticize presidential policies, actions or pronouncements.

The falling-out between President Duterte and VP Robredo was inevitable.

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It was an uneasy relationship from the start, with Du30 appearing to have merely given in to pressure from certain advisers to reach out to a rival group. Or perhaps, aside from being Machiavellian, Du30 is also a Sun Tzu adherent, keeping his friends close and his enemies closer.

Duterte has made no secret of his dislike for Robredo’s Liberal Party, which he blames for all the mud thrown at him during the presidential campaign. And he has made no secret of his friendship with the Marcos clan, which is challenging Robredo’s mandate.

Despite her appointment, the talk is that Robredo was always treated like an outsider in the Cabinet. She didn’t speak the dialect of the current children of God or anak ng Dios, for one, and there were those who reportedly grumbled that her post should have gone to someone who supported the Duterte campaign.

And if she thought her appointment would mean she would have the ear of the President, she was certainly disappointed.

If it’s any consolation to the VP, this President does not seem keen on consulting anyone on anything. This is why his Cabinet members are constantly on damage control mode, clarifying his statements and explaining (or interpreting) his moves.

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The two officials appear to be careening toward a worse collision, as Robredo faces the electoral challenge being pursued by Marcos’ only son Bongbong.

Because of unusual developments in the final days of the vote count and Robredo’s razor-thin victory margin, there were accusations of cheating hurled against the Liberals, the ruling party at the time, in the VP race. Duterte supporters believe Robredo’s claim of a plot to “steal” the vice presidency is part of a scheme to discredit any legitimate process whose result would unseat her.

Both parties should exercise prudence in hurling accusations in this case. Any unsubstantiated claim can only undermine the credibility of those behind it.

We all know which VP candidate is preferred by President Duterte. He has already eased out his VP from his Cabinet. If he wants to avoid destabilization, he should do what he can to ensure the credibility of the process of challenging election results. And if he finds himself stuck with VP Leni, he should accept it gracefully.