Robredo must act VP, not Leni

As this was being written yesterday, Sunday, June 12, there was still no word as to whether incoming vice president Leni Robredo would be using the Coconut Palace as her official residence. Robredo has struggled with the issue, largely because of the amount being spent to rent it for its current occupant, outgoing Vice President Jejomar Binay.

The rent for the Coconut Palace stands close to half a million pesos every month. For Robredo, that appears too stiff. Of course, it is too stiff if she is just an ordinary lawyer espousing pro-poor causes. But she is the incoming vice president. The vice presidency is the second highest office in the land. And if for nothing else, money is of no moment to preserve the dignity of the office.

The way it looks to me, Robredo is having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that she is now the incoming vice president and that, as a result, there are things expected of her that may seem out of her nature and make her uncomfortable but that she is obligated to fulfill them anyway, out of respect and deference to her office.

Consider her insistence on taking the bus. There is no problem with that if she is still the woman she has been all her life. But something drastic happened to her life on May 9. There are certain expectations and obligations that are now out of her hands. Surely she must have considered these expectations and obligations before she said yes to the invitation for her to run for the vice presidency.

Or, in the unlikely event that she failed to consider these expectations and obligations - well, there they are. There is no backing out now. If things are only dawning on her for the first time, sorry na lang, but she has to confront them squarely, in a manner befitting her office as vice president, and in keeping with the mandate that was given her by the electorate.

Robredo can no longer ride the bus even if she wants to. It is a security nightmare for her to do so. She has to accept the fact that she is just a heartbeat away from the presidency. She must be ready to assume the presidency if something happens to the president. That is the only reason why she can no longer take the bus. It is not for some other reason. It is not to take her away from her comfort zone. She just needs to be protected at all times just in case.

It is also for a similar reason why she needs to stay at the Coconut Palace, or some other place that if fit and worthy for the vice president. Robredo must disabuse her mind from thoughts that living appropriately as vice president might be taken against her because she is a simple woman. The matter of security and abode are a given. When Filipinos voted for her, it never occurred to them that her abode and means of transport would become such an issue for her.

In a way, this nitpicking by Robredo on her means of transport and place of residence reflects a sense of failure on her part to grasp the reality of her current situation. And while it is difficult to blame her for this, being the simple woman that she used to be, it nevertheless is incumbent upon her to start shaping up and becoming the vice president that she has become.

In fact, this nitpicking over what should have been almost inconsequential matters offers an alarming glimpse into what the nation has gotten itself into by voting into office a person whose focus seems inordinately transfixed on a few trees when an entire forest in fact looms very large in her face. One shudders to think how she can bring herself to make snap decisions if, heaven forbid, something does happen and she is thrust unto the presidency.

Of course she is still learning the ropes, which is, again, one of the infirmities of the Philippine electoral process - this willingness to send amateurs to high positions and there begin their on-the-job training. But then, it is what it is. There is no returning Robredo on a bus to her native Camarines Sur. She will be the vice president on June 30 and that is what she will be for all of us.

Our appeal then to Robredo is for her to act vice presidential. Forget that trappings of a simple life because there is nothing simple in the vice presidency, an office that can, at any time, become the presidency. In fact Robredo has to act presidential. The agonizing wait for her decision on the Coconut Palace will not do. If the Philippines gets to be attacked by its enemies, her decision-making ability cannot be like a lazy bus ride. Robredo must learn to act her part, not her self.