BY WENDELL VIGILIA and RAYMOND AFRICA
VICE President Leni Robredo is set to decide soon if she will seek the presidency next year, her spokesman Ibarra Gutierrez said yesterday, with only month left before the deadline for the filing of certificates of candidacy.
“Malapit na tayo sa panahong tinukoy niya para sa pagpapahayag ng kanyang desisyon (We are nearing that time that she chose to announce her decision),” Gutierrez said in a statement in response to the call of teachers, lawyers, labor, urban poor, LGBTQ and other groups for the opposition leader to run for in president next year’s elections.
Gutierrez said the Vice President is thanking those who expressed trust and belief in her as a leader. He said this will be part of her decision making.
Last Monday, some 200 volunteer groups representing about 500,000 members held an online gathering to pay tribute to Robredo’s brand of leadership and expressed their full support if she decides to run for president.
Dubbed as “Kay Robredo, Taumbayan ang Panalo: The People’s Convention,” the online event was streamed via the Team Leni Robredo Facebook page where several representatives and groups expressed full support for the opposition leader’s programs for the welfare of the Filipino people.
Last Friday, representatives of the LGBTQIA+ urged the former Camarines Sur lawmaker to join the presidential race.
Robredo has vowed to announce her decision either August or early next month. She has rejected a “unification formula” for the 2022 presidential elections, proposed by declared presidential candidate Sen. Panfilo Lacson, which involves withdrawing from the presidential race at the last minute to support the candidate who has the best chance to challenge the administration’s bet.
But Robredo said she does not want to lead supporters on and disappoint them later, and because she believes that the unification of opposition allies must happen before the filing of COCs next month.
TALKS
Sen. Emmanuel Pacquiao of the fractured administration party PDP-Laban said he is “not ready” for a dialogue with the faction led by President Duterte and Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi because he is preoccupied with some important matters like helping the country amid the pandemic.
“Yung problema ay madaling pag-usapan yan pagdating ng panahon kapag ma-resolba na natin ang ating hinaharap, ang pandemya na ito (Problems can be resolved when the right time comes, when we have resolved what we are facing right now, which is the pandemic),” he said.
He clarified he is not hold any ill-feelings against Cusi whose faction ousted him as party president.
“Ako po bilang Christian, hindi po ako galit kay Cusi. Hindi po ako galit sa kanyang grupo (As a Christian, I am not angry at Cusi. I am not angry with his group.) Who am I to put grievances to someone? I am also a sinner who needs forgiveness from the Lord,” he told ANC.
The Cusi faction has endorsed Sen. Christopher Go as its standard bearer, and President Duterte as Go’s running mate for next year’s elections.
The Pacquiao-Pimentel faction has been pushing for Pacquiao to run for president.
Last Sunday, the Pacquiao-Pimentel faction “ousted” President Duterte as party chairman by electing Pimentel as his replacement.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said President Duterte believes he is still the chairman of the ruling party.
Roque also said the Supreme Court should intervene to settle the matter of the two factions. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
