A TRUE leader shows up in the most difficult times, opposition presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo said yesterday during CNN Philippines’ debate among nine presidential candidates which her biggest rival, former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. skipped.
“The No. 1 ingredient also of leadership, aside from character, is you show up in the most difficult times. If you don’t show up in the most difficult times, you’re not a leader),” Robredo said in mixed Filipino and English, when asked how important public debates are in every election.
Robredo, a staunch Marcos critic, said a true leader does not shirk from responsibilities such as participating in debates. Participation, she said, shows a candidate’s respect for the Filipino people.
She said a leader should be present should be able to face questions and the issues against him or her. She also said debates level the playing field and gives the public a glimpse of the candidates’ demeanor and character and allows them to present their track record.
“Kahit mahirap kailangan andiyan ka, kailangan kaya mong harapin mga itatanong tungkol sayo, kailangan makaya mong masagot kung ano mga issues kaban sa iyo, hindi ka magtago. Kaya para sa akin ito ‘yun pagbibigay halaga at respeto sa taongbayan na maghahalal sayo (Even if it’s hard, you should be there, you can face the questions and the issues against you, you’ll not hide. That’s why to me, this gives value and respect to the people people who will elect you),” she said.
In the same event, Robredo said no one has attempted to offer her bribes since she first became a public servant in 2013 because she made it clear from the start that they will only be wasting their time.
“The first thing I did when I was elected as a congresswoman (in 2013) was to talk to my district, the businessmen to make it clear that no one can talk to me about public contracts, to ask favors or be given special preferences so that’s why no one attempted,” she said in Filipino.
The opposition presidential candidate was asked, along with other presidential candidates, if graft and corruption has happened under their watch and how they dealt with it.
Robredo said that since there should be a system that forces elected officials to be “good,” she filed anti-corruption measures that would ensure more transparency in government, including the freedom of information bill.
Since she became Vice President in 2016, Robredo said, the Commission on Audit has awarded her office the highest audit rating for three consecutive years.
The Vice President also said the Bureau of Customs will be the first agency that will be investigated if she becomes president.
FILLING GAPS
Robredo said she and her team did what they could to “fill in the gaps” in the government’s pandemic response right from the start, beginning in March 2020 when President Duterte placed Luzon under lockdown.
“All throughout, we were trying to fill in one gap after another,” she said, pointing out that her office was already getting briefed about COVID-19 by medical experts as as early as February 2020.
My March, she said, her office through the help of the private sector was already distributing personal protective equipment (PPE) sets to front-liners and later tapped the local sewing community for local production since the supplies were not enough.
She then enumerated the OVP’s pandemic response projects such as the free shuttle buses and dormitories for front-liners, community pantries, Bayanihan E-Skwela for online learning, Bayanihan Hanapbuhay, Swab Cab, E-Konsulta and other initiatives.
If she will become the next president, the opposition presidential bet vowed to tap a medical expert who is also an astute manager “respected by his peers” as health secretary.
“It won’t be a political appointment,” she said, underscoring the need for a health secretary who commands the respect of his subordinates by joining them on the ground.
Robredo also vowed to personally lead the government’s pandemic response as president, saying she cannot just sit idly waiting for ground reports “because we have no time to spare during times of emergency.”
