Some quarters
are asking the question, is there something wrong with Vice President Leni
Robredo?
In an exclusive interview
with CNN Philippines, she seems to be more explaining herself more, it is as if
she wants to be understood by the people that is supporting President Rodrigo
Roa Duterte. She even said that she is now open rejoining the official family
of the President, a change of heart?
While it is also
true that in that same interview, she is not closing any doors for running for
another public office come 2022. Is this some politicking masterfully
manipulated by the Liberal Party? Or a plan B in case the election protest of
former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos pushes through with a reversal. *
 |
| Vice President Leni Robredo (photo credit to owner) |
Mr. Jojo Robles,
former Manila Standard editor-in-chief and columnist has joined The Manila
Times, and for his first column published today ( March 7, 2018) titled “Leni’s
new drama” he expounds on the possibility on what is happening with the Vice
President and the Liberal party.
For purposes of
full understanding and clarity ,we have quoted
in full the whole article written by Mr. Robles for the convenience and
knowledge of our reading public.
Was Robredo finally making a break from the
moribund Liberal Party? Had she, despite her laughable list of non-negotiable
conditions before Duterte could bring her back into his official family,
finally seen the light?
Of course not. A lawmaker who remains a
steadfast member of the LP (yes, there are still some politicians like that)
recently told me that Leni didn’t do the leaving; if anything, she has
basically been told that it would make no difference to the party if she stayed
or left. *
“It’s like this,” the lawmaker, a friend from way back, explained to me. “The party has decided, for the moment, that VP Leni is not going to win us back Malacañang in 2022 [when the next national elections take place].”
But why wouldn’t the LP support Robredo,
currently the highest elected party member in government, in 2022? Has she been
dumped for good?
“Let’s just say that the party believes that
we should wait for future developments,” he replied. “After all, that’s what we
in the LP do, right? And someone always seems to come along whom we never
expected, and that person turns out to be the savior of the party.”
The lawmaker was referring, of course, to
Noynoy Aquino, whose decision to run late in 2009 upon the death of his mother
Cory catapulted the LP back into power. As far as Robredo is concerned, the LP
is probably still smarting from its experience with Mar Roxas, who had a lock
on the party nomination for the presidency since the beginning of Noynoy’s
term, but who lost miserably when Duterte “did a Noynoy” in 2016, coming out of
nowhere to snatch the victory that Roxas already thought was his.
So, it certainly isn’t true that Robredo is
leaving the LP. It’s truer to say that the party doesn’t believe she stands a
good chance of winning back the palace for the Yellow horde. *
Robredo is damaged goods, even to her own
party. She is just doing the trapo thing (the same stunt she pulled when she
“resigned” as Duterte’s housing czarina) by pretending that she’s leaving when
she’s actually been thrown out.
Oh and yes, it would also be easy to dismiss
this account of how things really went down as fake news. Except that my source
is still very much around in Congress, finishing his last term after serving as
a top, high-profile official of the Arroyo administration and is now contemplating
a run for the mayorship in his suburban hometown.
Report from Manila Times
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