Robredo says she bears no ill will towards Duterte

Vice President Leni Robredo, a presidential aspirant in the 2022 elections, admitted on Monday that she has no resentment towards President Rodrigo Duterte, with whom she has frequently traded barbs.

Interviewed during Super Radyo dzBB's "Ikaw Na Ba? The Presidential Interviews," Robredo said she only feels sorry about the missed opportunities they had when they could have agreed on some things despite their opposing standpoints.

"Wala [none]," Robredo said when asked if she harbors ill feelings towards Duterte for her short stints as secretary of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and co-chair of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD).

"Siguro kung may nararamdaman man ako ngayon, mas sayang. Mas sayang na kahit sana magkaiba ‘yung pinanggalingan namin, kahit sana kahit iba 'yung paniniwala namin sa napakaraming bagay, from the very start, 'yung paniniwala ko talaga, meron naman kaming puwedeng pagkasunduan," she said.

(Maybe if I'm feeling anything right now, it's sorry because even if we came from different backgrounds, even if we had different beliefs in so many things, from the very start, I really believed that we could have agreed on some things.)

Robredo was once appointed as housing czar by Duterte, but her tenure only lasted five months since she quit her post after being excluded from Cabinet meetings.

"'Yun ‘yung aking hope na nung naging housing chair ako, napakarami kong plano para sa housing sector. Sinabi ko ‘to sa kaniya na happy naman ako na hindi nagiging sagabal ‘yung pagkakaiba ng aming paniniwala sa maraming bagay, na nabibigyan kami ng pagkakataon mag-work together. So akin, mas sayang,” she explained.

(That was my hope when I became the housing chair, I had so many plans for the housing sector. I told him that I was happy that the differences in our beliefs did not become an obstacle, that we still had the opportunity to work together. So for me, it’s a pity.)

Robredo, the lead opposition figure in the upcoming elections, was also appointed as co-chairperson of ICAD in November 2019, but she was removed from the post after just 19 days.

On uniting the opposition

obredo said that there is still a chance of uniting the opposition but stressed that it may now be difficult as other presidential aspirants have already invested their time and effort for their own campaigns.

Due to this, she said that it may be harder to “give way” now than before the filing of certificates of candidacy in October.

“Lagi namang may pag-asa pero mas mahirap na ngayon kesa bago nung filing. Sinabi ko sa kanila ito nung sinusubukan pa lang namin kasi merong mga panukala na mag-usap-usap na lang tayo down the road,” she said.

(There is always hope for a united opposition but it is more difficult now than before we filed our certificates of candidacy. I told them this when we were just trying to unite because there were proposals for us to just talk down the road.)

It could be recalled that Robredo earlier met not just with Manila Mayor Isko Moreno and Senator Manny Pacquiao, but with others who were planning to run for president and vice president in hopes of forging a united opposition.

However, both Moreno and Pacquiao, along with Robredo, ended up joining the 2022 presidential race.

Robredo said that the failure to unify the opposition stemmed from the different considerations of every aspirant.

“Ang aking wish ay kahit iba-iba ang aming pinanggalingan ay sana makahanap kami ng points na common sa amin para maging willing ‘yung lahat na i-set aside ‘yung differences tsaka magsama-sama para sa aming common interests. Pero mahirap talaga kasi bawa’t kandidato, iba-iba ‘yung konsiderasyon at ginagalang natin ‘yon,” she added.

(My wish is that even if our backgrounds were different, we would be able to find points that were common to us so everyone would be willing to set aside the differences and come together for our common interests. But that was really difficult because every candidate has different considerations and I respect that.) —KBK, GMA News