Robredo: Remember orphans, people in need amid Christmas festivities

Vice President Leni Robredo on Tuesday urged Filipinos to remember and care for people in need as they celebrate Christmas.

"Sa ating pagdiriwang, patuloy sana nating alalahanin, akayin, at yakapin ang mga naulila, mga kapatid nating nangangailangan, nagugutom, mga walang masilungan, at nasalanta ng mga sakuna," she said in her Christmas message.

"Ito ang pinakamagandang regalo na maibibigay natin sa ating kapwa at sa ating bansa."

Robredo, the leader of the opposition, also called for unity and hope even amid adversity and despite what she said were people's differences in origins and beliefs.

"Ang mga pagdiriwang na katulad nito ay isang pambihirang pagkakataon upang ipakita natin na sa huli, ang mga bagay na nagbubuklod sa atin ay higit na mas matibay kaysa sa mga bagay na sumisira sa ating pagkakaisa," she said in the statement.

"Magtiwala tayong anumang pagsubok ang dumating, ang liwanag ng katotohanan at pag-ibig ang palaging mananaig," she added.

Robredo has an approval rating of 58% and a trust rating of 53%, both higher than her ratings in the last quarter, according to the results of the latest Pulse Asia survey.

"This is affirmation that her quiet yet committed efforts on behalf of our countrymen continue to bear fruit more than halfway into her term as VP," her spokesman Barry Gutierrez had said.

President Rodrigo Duterte, meanwhile, enjoys an 87% approval rating and an 83% trust rating, according to the same survey.

Robredo was briefly the co-chairperson of the administration's central anti-drug committee. Duterte fired her after less than three weeks.

She said she would release her report on the drug war late December or January 2020. She had planned an earlier release but deferred it to give way to relief operations for the victims of a magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck Mindanao this month. —LDF, GMA News