It was expected that Vice President Leni Robredo and President Rodrigo Duterte would head their separate political ways since, first and foremost, they belong to different parties and second, he prefers a different vice president other than his running mate, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano.
That would be former senator Bongbong Marcos, whose family recently scored a major political and personal victory with the burial of his father, the late president Ferdinand Marcos, at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
After the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Marcoses, Robredo cracked a joke about the election protest lodged against her by Bongbong at the High Tribunal and how it may result in her losing the post.
It only turned serious when she was notified through the President’s subalterns that she should desist from attending all Cabinet meetings starting last Monday, and if that isn’t any strong indication that she is out of the President’s circle, then we don’t know what is.
She said the breaking point came when the housing budget was reduced significantly for next year, but her exit from the Cabinet is summed up rather bluntly by House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez who said she was “fired” since she no longer enjoys the President’s trust and confidence.
Translated, it meant the President didn’t like her speaking out against the Marcos burial and his administration’s war on illegal drugs. That Bongbong Marcos refused to accept any government post next year is a telltale sign that he is confident of winning the vice presidency through a recount.
While she insinuated that there was a plot to unseat her as vice president, the feeling of distrust is mutual as President Duterte had often accused the Liberal Party (LP) of trying to oust him from the presidency.
Robredo’s exit doesn’t hamper in any way her capability to serve the Filipino people in her capacity as vice president, though Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, one of her supporters, warned that it may affect housing projects around the country.
It’s no small irony and coincidence that the housing chief post used to be assumed by Robredo’s predecessor, former vice president Jejomar Binay, who only began to renounce former president Benigno Aquino III at the tail end of his administration and eventually lost his own bid for the presidency against Duterte.
Would Robredo suffer the same fate? As election recount protests go in this country, it would take some time before the results come in, but look no further than the Supreme Court turnaround on the Marcos burial to see that nearly anything is possible under the Age of Duterte.
What is sure for now is that Robredo can at least speak her mind out on issues, and she should earn her stripes as a true, credible opposition figure.