MANILA, Philippines – Blame it on the speech writer.
President Rodrigo Duterte apologized Sunday to Vice President Leni Robredo for forgetting to acknowledge her in his speech during the Philippine Military Academy graduation rites.
Instead of greeting the officials present during the event, Duterte started his ten-minute speech by condoling with the families of soldiers killed in encounters and assuring them that their needs would be taken care of.
When he acknowledged the guests, he started with Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana when he should have greeted Robredo first before Cabinet and military officials.
“I apologize, ma'am. It was not done,” Duterte said, breaking away from his speech to address Robredo.
The apologetic Duterte then asked PMA cadets to honor Robredo with a “tikas pahinga” or parade rest.
Duterte then blamed his unnamed speechwriter for not including Robredo’s name in the remarks.
"Ang nagsulat, ma'am, dito (speech), hindi ka isinali. Bugbugin na lang natin," the president said in jest while Robredo and other officials present laughed off the gaffe.
Prior to the graduation ceremony, Duterte greeted Robredo. Duterte repeated his apology as he recognized Robredo before the crowd.
"I'd like to apologize and acknowledge the presence of the beautiful lady, the Vice President of the Republic. Sorry, ma'am, ha," he said.
This is the second time the two highest officials of the country have met since Robredo resigned from the Cabinet in December.
In late January, they both attended the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council meeting.
Robredo tendered resignation as housing czar after she was asked to stop attending Cabinet meetings in early December. She and Duterte have opposing views in war on drugs, Marcos burial and death penalty.
Duterte disavows anonymous anti-Robredo bloggers
Duterte’s gaffe came days after an anti-Robredo group published an online article claiming that the vice president’s husband, the late Interior secretary Jesse Robredo, had ties with gambling and drug lords.
The article, which was written by an anonymous group called “We are Collective,” was based largely on unnamed sources whom they claimed have “insider information” about the Robredos.
Robredo has denied the claims of the article, which she has dismissed as an attempt to silence her.
Duterte has denied having a hand in the publication of the article but admitted that some of his supporters may be behind it.
“No, no, no, no mamatay na ang lahat ng Filipino (even if all Filipinos die). Never had a hand. Saka wala na ako. Panalo na ako. Ano pa? (I already won. What for?) Why would I bother myself with that kind of garbage?” the president said in an interview last Thursday.
“Di ko talaga trabaho yan (that’s not my style) and even when I was mayor vis a vis with my political opponents, I never really used black propaganda,” he added.
