Robredo sees need for common bet vs. Duterte's anointed in Eleksyon 2022

Having many candidates to go against President Rodrigo Duterte's chosen standard bearer in Eleksyon 2022 will ensure more of the same administration in the next six years, Vice President Leni Robredo said on Monday.

At a forum organized and livestreamed by the Cambridge University Filipino Society (CUFS), Robredo said it was one of the reasons why she had yet to announce whether or not she would run for president.

"Number one is really feasibility. I believe that there should only be one opposition candidate in the 2022 elections. The reason why I believe that is we have to accept that the President is again a very popular president," Robredo said.

"To have many different candidates running against the elections will only ensure the victory of the same kind of governance the last five years has given us. And I'm not sure it is the best interest of the country," she added.

Some elected officials in Camarines Sur have asked Robredo to run for governor.

Robredo said the Philippines would need an "inclusive" and "hands-on" leader in 2022 as the country would still be suffering the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She said the country needed a president who would be "on top of everything" in the context of the coronavirus disease crisis.

"What kind of president do we need in 2022? It has changed over time in the sense that the pandemic exacerbated again our need for a president who is there on the ground, who is hands on, who is not afraid to roll up his sleeves as we battle this pandemic," Robredo said. .

Robredo said that the Chief Executive should also listen to experts who would help address COVID-19 operations.

"I feel that things will not go back to normal in the soonest possible time, so it is in the context of pandemic, we need this kind of a leadership that is inclusive, a leadership that's consultative, a leadership that believes in data-driven approach that listens to experts, a leader who will manage the day to day COVID response of the entire operations," Robredo said.

Robredo has yet to decide whether or not to run for president 2022 candidacy as she previously said running for local office is attractive but she was also still open for a run at the presidency. —NB, GMA News