De Lima: Robredo may be next on Duterte's ouster list
MANILA, Philippines — Detained Sen. Leila De Lima warned that Vice President Leni Robredo’s seat as the second highest official in the land might be targeted next by President Rodrigo Duterte.
“In Duterte’s list of independent and strong women that he wants removed from office, only one remains,” De Lima said in a statement.
The senator noted that former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno—who was openly called by Duterte as his enemy—was already ousted by her own peers at the Supreme Court. Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, meanwhile, will retire from being the country’s chief graft buster in July.
RELATED: Duterte tells Sereno: I am now your enemy
De Lima said that the vice president remains to be a “thorn on the President’s side” as Robredo is the last of the high-ranking officials who have been vocal about her criticisms of Duterte.
“Robredo’s removal will give Duterte relief from a counter-point personality who is capable of commanding international recognition as a true leader of the Filipino people,” the senator said.
Barely six months since the Duterte administration has started, Robredo stepped down as the housing czar after she received a text message from Special Assistant to the President Bong Go that she should “desist from attending all Cabinet meetings.”
The vice president, on May 9, said it is always “possible” that she could be the next target of ouster moves.
READ: Robredo: Moves to oust me ‘always possible’
Robredo’s electoral win in the 2016 national elections is already facing a challenge at the Presidential Electoral Tribunal after defeated vice presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., son of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, whom Duterte said he admires, has accused her of committing fraud.
Election protest is critical
De Lima stressed that the removal of Sereno from her seat in “diabolically illegal and unconstitutional means” implying that “anything is possible” at the high tribunal.
The detained senator noted that the tribunal has adopted a 50-percent shading threshold in the ongoing recount of ballots. Robredo’s camp has appealed this action by the PET, as they noted that the vice president had lost votes due to the threshold.
“[T]he fact remains that there is no reason for the SC to adopt this threshold, given the Comelec’s categorical clarification that the 2016 voting machines were primed to read 25% shading as the minimum threshold for a valid vote,” De Lima stressed.
The tribunal has yet to issue a resolution on Robredo's motion for reconsideration, but it has ordered the camp of Marcos and the Comelec to comment on the appeal.
READ: Support for Sereno brings political risks, opportunities for Robredo
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