Robredo willing to help regardless of gov’t post, says spox

Vice President Leni Robredo will always be willing to be of help to the public and the government with or without a position, her camp said Friday. 

Lawyer Ibarra Gutierrez, spokesperson for Robredo, responed to the comments earlier made by presidential spokesperson Harry Roque that the Vice President should help the government look for solutions in sending locally stranded individuals home amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“[The] Vice President’s work to help our fellow Filipinos—to overcome poverty, combat the scourge of illegal drugs, or meet the challenges of COVID-19—has never depended on holding any formal position in addition to the office she was elected to,” Gutierrez said.

“She will serve in whatever capacity she is needed,” he added.

Earlier in the day, former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said the Duterte administration should instead appoint Robredo as head of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases to improve the country’s COVID-19 response.

This was dismissed by Roque, saying Robredo “is helping in her own ways and if her intentions are genuine, there is no need for her to be appointed or designated in the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), as suggested by the former senator.”

Gutierrez, however, assured the public that the Vice President will continue to discharge her mandate to work for the welfare of all Filipinos “regardless of what designation she is given, what resources are given to her, and what support she receives from the administration.”

Robredo was initially appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016 as head of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, but Robredo resigned from this post after she was barred by the President from attending Cabinet meetings.

Robredo was then appointed as co-chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee Against Illegal Drugs (ICAD) last year, but she was fired after just 19 days by the President for supposedly not being trustworthy.

Robredo has submitted two reports to President Duterte in connection with the meetings and consultations she had in her capacity as ICAD co-chair. Her office has yet to receive a reply on these reports.

For the COVID-19 response, the Office of the Vice President Robredo has led a fund drive for the purchase of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), dorms, and hot meals for health workers, among others. — RSJ, GMA News