While she is thankful to groups endorsing her presidential bid along with Davao City Mayor and vice presidential bet Sara Duterte, Vice President Leni Robredo is standing by her running-mate Senator Francis Pangilinan in the 2022 elections.
Ibarra Gutierrez, Robredo’s spokesperson, reacted to Representatives Joey Salceda of Albay and Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro, and Zamboanga City Mayor Isabela Climaco that spearheaded the launch of ROSA (Robredo-Sara) movement, a group of volunteers pushing Robredo for president with Duterte as her vice president.
He said they are not at all surprised if there are groups supporting candidates from different parties.
“That is the reality in Philippine politics and the electoral system. There will always be people who will choose a different configuration but our vice presidential bet is Senator Kiko and that will never change,” he said.
“It’s not a question of personal comfort. It’s a question of what needs to be done. The Vice President has been clear. Of course, right now, we are doing everything in our power to ensure that Senator Kiko will take his oath as vice president come June 30. But regardless of who gets elected, she will be willing to work with the person the people will choose to be the vice president,” he said.
Robredo meanwhile is urging netizens to report a Facebook account claiming that participants of her campaign rally were paid P1,000. The account is also to “red-tag” her supporters.
Robredo also junked the claim of a netizen who said that his friend’s sister was paid P1,000 just for attending Robredo’s presidential campaign rally.
“People lined up for so many hours, braving the heat and the crowds. Abonado pa ang karamihan sa kanila. Huwag natin hayaan yurakan ang ating dignidad ng mga kasinungalingan. Nang red tag pa. Please help us report,” Robredo said, sharing a screenshot of the netizen’s post.
Robredo on Tuesday visited two provinces in Central Luzon —Nueva Ecija and Tarlac. She lost to ex-senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in Nueva Ecija in the vice presidentiable race in 2016. Marcos garnered over 540,000 votes against Robredo’s 216,110.