Robredo enemies  

Watching the stellar performance of Vice President Leni Robredo in her one-on-one interview on ABS-CBN, it was easy to spot who she was not beholden to, and most probably, who isn’t going to vote for her in the presidential elections. So we can count those out from among her fan base. Who were the unlucky (but deserving) targets of her sniper scope?

First up - the big mining companies that are running roughshod over our environment and indigenous peoples. They’re not going to be happy with a Robredo win.

The vice president was clear about what wasn’t kosher - those mining giants who aren’t paying heed to the mandate for true partnerships with the indigenous cultural communities that live alongside, and who are also laying waste to our environmental riches. So despite the flip they managed with a reversal to open-pit mining and the grant of new licenses, they now have to contend with another flop to their flip.

Second - the contact tracers! (Let’s include here the supposed contact tracing czar, Benjamin Magalong and his successors). It’s true what she said - it’s been two years and contact tracing is an absolute shambles, despite the time and resources thrown at that essential pillar for a pandemic response.

For the VP to publicly acknowledge what we all know to be a failure is a sure knife in the front gut of the useless tracers. (Count the numerous idiotic apps deployed by the many different cities so they can have their own tracing “capabilities” --although never employed-- amongst the shambolic.)

Third - the Department of Health. As the VP rightly points out, our healthcare system is nil. Migrant workers who have retired and want to come home are thinking twice about the move, because our healthcare is abominable. We have no safety net to speak of, unless one has access to the helicopter landing deck of St. Luke’s hospital.

Fourth - the social media platforms. And not just Twitter, Snapchat, and Onlyfans, the named-and-shamed porn providers. The VP was clear about social media companies taking responsibility for the information they enable access, if not actively push on, to the populace. Prominent in her speech was Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa, who has been advocating against Facebook and other platforms that actively manipulate the algorithms so people see what they tend to prefer, and where they get validated.

Those companies are probably assessing their odds with her. Let’s hope social media platforms don’t tweak their artificial echo chambers against her candidacy.

And of course, fifth would be the corrupt. The VP said it many times in so many ways. The corrupt aren’t welcome in her administration, so guess who’s voting against her in the secrecy of the ballot booth?

Sixth would be the Chinese stooges. Mainland China is probably mobilizing against her for what she said about our arbitration victory on the West Philippine Sea. The VP was clear about enforcing the favorable decision we enjoy, and getting multi-lateral support for protecting our sovereignty.

It’s not a happy Chinese New Year greeting to China, for sure, and if China has a chance to do what Russia did in the American elections, (let’s hide it by the term “interfere”) China will probably do the same for this electoral exercise to favor its own candidate. (So who among the rest of the field would China sway to?)

Finally, but not exhaustively, we should chuck into this list her defeated vice presidential rival Bongbong Marcos, who she flat-out called a “liar”. I’m sure he’s furious about that mother of all sound bites.

There, we have compiled a list of Robredo enemies. And surveying them, it’s a pretty good list. While they could be formidable, it doesn’t hurt to be on the side of good. And on the side of good, Leni definitely is.