Robredo finds blessings in difficulties she faced in past 5 years

“Mamaluktot kapag maiksi ang kumot.”

Curl up when the blanket is short. This is what Vice President Leni Robredo said she learned during the past five years without a Cabinet post under the Duterte administration.

In an interview at the 5th Asian Philanthropic Development Conference, Robredo lamented the vice president’s lack of mandate as well as the small budget of her office.

“That would not have been a problem if I had good working relations with the President… then perhaps I would be given a Cabinet portfolio that would enable me to continue the work that I was doing,” she said.

“That didn’t happen or it happened for only a very short period of time. Other difficulties faced by my office pushed us to be creative. It pushed us to be innovative. In Filipino, Father, it’s called mamaluktot [making do],” she added.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the OVP with the Manila City Government launched a drive-thru vaccination hub exclusively for tricycle, pedicab, and delivery services drivers.

The OVP has also launched a Facebook page, the Bayanihan E-Konsulta, which connects volunteer doctors with patients so that they may get medical attention through teleconsultation.

Robredo’s office has also provided numerous free dormitories and transportation services to health workers, medical practitioners, and other frontliners amid the pandemic.

According to the Commission on Audit, the OVP spent P113 million of its 2020 budget for the COVID-19 pandemic response—and received the commission's highest audit rating for three straight years.

Robredo said the difficulties the OVP faced may be a hidden blessing as it allowed the OVP to explore ways to expand its mandate and convert the OVP into a more advocacy-heavy one.

“And then you know, Father, I think the most meaningful part in all that we’ve done in the past five years, I’ve said it in my speech, was, in essence, our office became the center of gravity of many different moving parts,” she said.

According to the vice president, the OVP gave Filipinos the space they needed to help each other.

“We gave spaces for people to help and we felt like the ordinary Filipino really wants to take care of his fellow Filipinos. They just don’t know how. So our office provided for that space,” she said.

Robredo on Tuesday also gave credit to the Filipino people for helping each other out throughout the pandemic. — BM, GMA News