Quiet courage, empathy, hard work are rare these days — VP Leni Robredo

Vice President Leni Robredo seemed to criticize anew earlier comments of President Rodrigo Duterte against her.

On Thursday, Duterte said  that he prefers a dictator to succeed him than Vice President Robredo, who he said was incompetent.

"You're better off choosing a dictator in the likes of Marcos. That is what I suggested. Pwede man kayong mag- constitutional succession, it's Robredo. But she cannot hack it," he said.

In reply to Duterte's statement, Robredo said, "Instead of continuing to glorify a dictator who stole billions from our country, drove the nation into debt, and presided over the murder and imprisonment of thousands of Filipinos, he can work on truly unifying the nation, and assuring our people, especially those at the fringes, that their voices are being heard and that their daily suffering will soon be eased."

At the annual Ramon Magsaysay awards ceremony on Friday evening, Robredo's speech seemed to tackle the same issue.

"Quiet courage and empathy and leaders that put in the hard work of actually transforming the lives of people are rareties in these times when dictatorship is claimed by some to be better," she said. — BAP, GMA News