Robredo: I won VP race but don't have plans to replace Duterte

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo stressed that her victory during the 2016 elections was clean and underscored that she was not after President Rodrigo Duterte’s job.

In the second part of her interview posted on her Facebook account, Robredo said that she had already won and some people simply could not move on.

Robredo said her family worked hard for everything they had and pointed to the fact that her family did not have any history of stealing from the nation’s coffers and cheating during elections.

“I’ve already won, and there are still some who can’t move on. It’s obvious where the fake news on this is coming from. Whenever they say that I’m a fake VP, I will repeat and you can see this in the records, our family does not have any history of cheating,” the vice president said in Filipino.

Robredo said reports that a dead person voted for her in one province were untrue.

“I don’t really have experience in cheating in elections, to steal from the nation’s coffers, and I haven’t committed any irregularity. We will see who has the capacity and the history to cheat,” she said.

Robredo is facing an electoral protest filed by former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. who is alleging that vote-counting machines used during the 2016 polls were manipulated to favor the vice president.

Marcos is the son and namesake of the late Philippine dictator who committed massive corruption and human rights abuses during his 21-year reign. Marcos’ father also committed cheating during elections to repeatedly win fresh electoral mandates and to give his authoritarian rule a semblance of legality.

During the interview, Robredo also denied that she was aiming to replace Duterte as president.

“My God, I am not excited to become president. Even the vice presidency, this was not planned. This just happened even when I became congressman,” Robredo said.

When asked for a categorical answer if she had any intention to oust Duterte, the vice president said, “None, I don’t want to replace President Duterte.”

Duterte and Robredo, who belong to different political parties, have had a rocky relationship since their election in 2016.

After months of hesitation, Duterte appointed Robredo to a Cabinet post only to tell her to desist from attending meetings in the palace supposedly over fundamental political differences.

 

This led the vice president to resign from her post.

Since then, their relationship has been cordial, and they have shared the same stage in some public events in the past months.

Just recently, the president loudly wondered if Robredo was really the vice president, a remark which prompted the vice president’s camp to reassure the chief executive that she was indeed the second highest official of government.

Aside from questions on her mandate and her supposedly intention to oust the chief executive, Robredo also debunked other rumors about her which spread on social media.

Robredo explained that her supposed “meet-and-greet” visit to Los Angeles, California was actually on an invitation from the Filipino-American Symphony Orchestra to grace its fundraising event.

She also denied confronting Sen, Loren Legarda in the Senate and stressed that the lawmaker was even one of those championing for a budget for the Office of the Vice President.

There was also no meeting that transpired between her and some members of the European Parliament during her recent trip to Europe, according to Robredo.

On a supposed post from a group of Bicol residents who were allegedly ashamed of Robredo, she said, “This is the only thing I can say: The editing was badly done.”

Robredo also denied insulting Paoay church in Ilocos and owning a bed which cost P700,000.

The vice president also explained that her supposed opposition to the extension of the Philippine National Railways line to Bicol was false, saying that she was only not in favor of the mode of financing being planned for the project which could result in government debt.

She also denied issues surrounding her daughters such as the use of corruption money on Aika Robredo’s study in Harvard University.

“This saddens me because this is happening only now. Before, we were free to express our sentiments and respect differences in our opinions,” she said, emphasizing that fighting fake news is the only way to fight this culture and to prove that it is unacceptable.