Palace: Robredo made it appear she’s in charge of typhoon response

Malacañang on Wednesday slammed Vice President Leni Robredo’s actions in the aftermath of Typhoon Ulysses, claiming she made it appear that she was in charge of relief efforts.

Robredo had coordinated with the military the rescue efforts in Cagayan which was hit by widespread flooding, a move that did not sit well with President Rodrigo Duterte, who also accused the Vice President of questioning his whereabouts while the typhoon barreled across Luzon.

“It was completely out of order that she misinformed the people, the nation, as if she was the one in charge of relief efforts. She was not,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in an interview with CNN-Philippines.

“And the President said under the constitutional scheme, the Vice President is a spare tire. When Ulysses struck, he was in charge,” he added.

Addressing the nation from the presidential palace on Tuesday night, Duterte insisted that he was monitoring the typhoon even as he attended a virtual summit of Southeast Asian leaders.

“I would go and whisper to the military guys in the room, how was it developing and what was the reaction of our government people there and the resources?” Duterte said. “Hindi mo na kailangan orderin ‘yan sila kasi two days before, deployed na ‘yan sila doon.”

A visibly irate Duterte also called Robredo “a dishonest person” when she supposedly asked where he was in the aftermath of Ulysses.

In response, Robredo branded Duterte a “misogynist” and said she was busy with relief work for the typhoon victims.

“When a President is a misogynist, the conversation goes down to this level. Eto po yung ginagawa namin gabi gabi, nagpupuyat ilang linggo na para, araw-araw, may madala lang na tulong sa mga nangangailangan,” Robredo said in a post on Twitter shortly after being accused of dishonesty. 

The Vice President also she only did her job in responding to the call for help. She also denied leading efforts to discredit the President during a calamity.

Robredo also said she has called the attention of chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo “for peddling fake news.”

“I am also calling out whoever peddled the fake news to the President, kaya ganito siya ka pikon. I never said 'Where is the President?'  You can review all my tweets,” she said.

Her spokesperson Barry Gutierrez added that Duterte and his officials were “seemingly determined to make this national calamity yet another excuse to engage in another nasty round of politics as usual.”

“The VP will not be dragged down to their level — there is just too much work that still needs to be done, and too many people that can still be helped,” Gutierrez said. — RSJ, GMA News