OUTGOING Vice President Leni Robredo yesterday bid her office goodbye, saying converting the Office of the Vice President (OVP) from a “mere ceremonial” one into an “advocacy-heavy” office is her number one legacy.
“The core of programs now is really to transform communities through our programs. When we came here, the focus was medical assistance,” she said in Filipino as she thanked reporters and staff members before leaving the OVP office in Quezon City.
Robredo’s term of office will end today but she decided to leave yesterday to give way to Vice President-elect Sara Duterte-Carpio and her team.
While the OVP’s medical assistance program helped a lot of people before her tenure, Robredo said such approach was “not really progressive, in the sense that you’re not changing anything.”
“You’re not changing beliefs, the perspective of how governance should be. Secondary to that was we were able to show that despite many limitations, we can improve the office),” she said in mixed Filipino and English.
Robredo, who is set to launch her Angat Buhay NGO next month, also cited the OVP’s receipt of a certification from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and another “unqualified opinion” from the Commission on Audit for the fourth consecutive year, from 2018 to 2021.
An unqualified opinion is the highest rating COA grants to government agencies that have presented that financial statements that conform to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.
Robredo such achievements showed that her office strove for excellence and is proof of an “inspired bureaucracy.”
Robredo said she also does not regret running for president despite losing to now President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., saying she would do the same thing if given the chance.
She said she decided to join the presidential race “without any expectations,” doing it out of her “call of duty.”
Robredo said the spirit of volunteerism that she witnessed during her campaign was already a huge blessing since she was not expecting such number of people to go out and campaign for her.
‘MORE TIME FOR K-DRAMA’
Robredo said she had “mixed feelings” about leaving because while she is happy to have more time for herself and her three daughters, she is also sad to leave her staff behind.
“So now, it’s liberating to think that if I want to go on vacation, I’ll be able to do it. Liberating, too, that I won’t have to set the alarm clock very early everyday,” she said.
“I won’t have to spend my nights studying, doing paper work. I always say that after tomorrow, I can return to watching K-drama. After tomorrow, I can read all the books that are waiting for me,” Robredo added.
She said the sad part is missing her team.
