Robredo open to return to Duterte Cabinet if offered a post

Vice President Leni Robredo on Thursday said she does not see President Rodrigo Duterte giving her another Cabinet post, but if he does, she said she would be consider the offer.

"Ako, I’ll be open to it, but you know, it is necessary that we discuss things. Perhaps I will tell the President that I would be very much willing to work with him, I would be very much willing to support what he’s doing," Robredo said in an interview on CNN Philippines.

"But if there are things that we don't agree on, kailangan ko talagang sabihin," she added.

However, following a rough patch which prompted her to serve the rest of the vice presidency outside the Duterte Cabinet, Robredo clarified she does not expect the President to offer her another post.

"I don't see it coming, but if it comes, kailangan siguro pag-usapan muna," she said.

In December 2016, Vice President Robredo stepped down as chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) after receiving a text message from Cabinet Secretary Jun Evasco Jr. saying Duterte wanted her to "desist from attending all Cabinet meetings."

Among issues she said she consistently opposed as a Cabinet member were the burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani, extra-judicial killings, reinstating death penalty, lowering the age of criminal liability, and sexual attacks against women.

In the interview, Robredo shared she had thanked the President for not taking her vocal opposition against her.

"So I thought... parang it would work.... Para sa akin, hindi din puwedeng I will keep silent on things I don’t agree on. Kaya mahirap talagang member ako ng Cabinet," she said.

On speculations she has an ambition to ascend to the presidency, Robredo reiterated her opposition to the administration does not mean she wants to have Duterte removed from power.

"And it’s unfortunate because when you... when you voice out your dissent, it’s because you want... you want certain things happening to change, or certain things happening to stop. It’s not because you want to oust the President," she said.

Other members of the Duterte Cabinet had described the differences between the President and his Vice President as "irreconcilable." — Margaret Claire Layug/MDM, GMA News