ALL indications point to Vice President Leni Robredo seeking the presidency in the 2022 national elections, an administration lawmaker who is a province mate of the second most powerful leader of the country said yesterday.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte expressed belief the Vice President will listen to the clamor of her fellow Bicolanos for her to run for president.
“I’m 99.9 percent she will not run for governor,” said Villafuerte, a member of the Nacionalista Party. “We see that in Bicol, there’s a clamor for her to run for president.
Bicolanos want to have a candidate so my fearless forecast is, I think she will run for the president.”
Robredo, chair of the Liberal Party, last month said her priority is building a unified opposition for next year’s elections, over her decision on whether to run for a national or a local post, or not to run at all.
Villafuerte said Robredo cannot run for provincial governor because she is a resident of Naga City, an independent component city of Camarines Sur.
He said Robredo run for representative or mayor of Naga City but not for governor because the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has ruled registered voters of Naga City are disqualified to run for a provincial post.
The lawmaker was referring to the Comelec’s 2013 resolution, declaring former Solicitor General Jose Anselmo Cadiz ineligible to run for governor of Camarines Sur for being a resident of Naga City.
“He (Cadiz) is a registered voter of Naga City, he ran against my father (Luis Villafuerte) and my son (Gov. Miguel Luis Villafuerte) before. The Comelec decided that if you’re a registered voter of Naga City, you cannot vote for governor therefore you cannot run for governor because independent chartered city of Naga,” Villafuerte said.
It was stated under Republic Act No. 305 or the charter of City of Naga that the “qualified voters of the city shall not be entitled to vote in any election for the offices of provincial governor and members of the provincial board of Camarines Sur provided, however, that any of such qualified voters can be candidate for any provincial office.”
Villafuerte also said that contrary to the claim of former Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr., Robredo did not transfer her voter’s registration to Magarao town where the Vice President, Villafuerte said, had a house constructed.
“She did not transfer as a registered voter there,” he said, adding that Robredo has not yet moved into the house, making her ineligible to run for governor, which requires a minimum of one-year residency.
Last May, former senator Antonio Trillanes IV said Robredo might run for Camarines Sur governor because of reports she has transferred her residence in preparation for the gubernatorial race. He issued the statement as he said Magdalo group has changed his status from being Robredo’s alternate presidential candidate, to being a principal candidate for presidency, so he can vie for the presidential nomination of the opposition 1Sambayan coalition.
