Robredo: Moves to oust me 'always possible'

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo on Wednesday said that it is always “possible” that she could be the next target of ouster moves following efforts to remove other women leaders seen as critical of the government.

She also declared that her office will now start fighting false and malicious information about her.

The Supreme Court is reportedly set to vote on the quo warranto petition questioning the legality of the 2012 appointment of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on May 11, when it will hold a special en banc session.

Local media reports said that the Supreme Court justices were set to favor the argument by Solicitor General Jose Calida that Sereno’s appointment was invalid because of her supposed failure to file some of her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth, a requirement that the Judicial and Bar Council said at the time that she had "substantially complied" with.

When asked if she could be the next target of the administration, Robredo said, “It’s always possible. In fact, if you will recall, last year, there was an impeachment complaint filed against me at the House of Representatives. It did not push through because no member of Congress sponsored it.”

She was referring to moves to oust her after she appeared at a side event of a United Nations forum to air human rights concerns in the  government's campaign against illegal drugs. President Rodrigo Duterte's allies, including House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, claimed that her speaking against the government was comparable to treason.

“But it’s always possible,” the country’s second highest government official said in an interview in San Sebastian Convent in Bacolod City.

Robredo is already facing questions over her 2016 victory after former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. filed an electoral protest alleging irregularities during the polls.

Marcos is the son of the late dictator who was buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani in November 2016 despite human rights violations and corruption during his more than two decades in power. 

A government board has released its list of victims of human rights violations who will be given reparations sourced from ill-gotten wealth recovered from the Marcoses.

OVP to call out misinformation

Robredo said that she has also instructed her staff to be more aggressive in fighting false reports about her, saying that being mum about these will make false stories true.

“In calling out their attention, let us maintain a high standard (of behavior). We will not stoop down to their level, on their disrespectful level, because Filipinos are not like that,” the vice president said.

Just last month, Robredo slammed a columnist who wrote lies about her trip to Germany.

The vice president labeled former Ambassador to Cyprus and Greece Rigoberto Tiglao “a purveyor of fake news” for claiming in his Manila Times column that Robredo and her colleagues from the Liberal Party met German members of European Parliament during their trip to Berlin.

Tiglao, a former member of the scandal-rocked administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, claimed that Robredo and her LP colleagues urged the parliament to pass a resolution calling out the Philippines for the number of killings in its crackdown on illegal drugs.

Robredo denied what Tiglao wrote and said that the former Arroyo government official sent an e-mail to her office threatening to publish more spurious stories about her after her criticisms.

"I’ve held my peace before, trusting that truth will prevail. We can no longer let lies go unchallenged. So bring it on," Robredo said on Twitter.

She also called out a reporter of The STAR for reporting, based on information from an unnamed source, that more than 21,000 votes for her had been invalidated in an ongoing recount related to Marcos' electoral protest.

The Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, has made no statements on the progress of the recount and has issued Robredo and Marcos reminders not to make statements about the pending protest.