Why Leni Robredo is intensely disliked by more Filipinos

She also dumped the color yellow which has been the color of the Liberal party and now uses pink

By Edward Era Barbacena

The handlers of Vice President and “independent” presidential candidate Leni Robredo claim not to understand why their lord and master is intensely disliked by her rivals. Those handlers think Robredo’s rivals are criticizing their boss because her rivals see her as the right bet for the presidency.

Robredo’s camp is obviously mistaken.

There are clear reasons why Robredo is intensely disliked.

Robredo was elected to Congress in 2013 through the sympathy votes she got by simply being the widow of a populist politician identified with the late President Benigno Aquino III.

By Robredo’s own admission earlier this year, legislative work is not her skill, which explains why she has no track record in Congress to speak of. Thus, Robredo deceived the voters about her supposed qualifications as a legislator when she ran for the House of Representatives in 2013. That is why Robredo is distrusted.

As Vice President, Robredo did nothing substantial to justify her consuming ambition to become president. All she did was to criticize the government as if she had a monopoly of all the competence in the country. Twice given a chance to work with President Rodrigo Duterte, twice she tried to undermine his administration while promoting herself.

Robredo uses the bulk of the annual budget of her office for needlessly duplicating the functions of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

She complains about alleged wastage of public funds, but she lives in a luxury mansion in New Manila, Quezon City at public expense. Can’t she afford to buy or lease her own home? Under the Constitution, only the President is entitled to an official residence paid for by public money.

Despite being a lawyer, Robredo does not fully comprehend the Constitution, as seen in the way she dishes out her public announcements. Also, Robredo lacks a substantial understanding of International Law, which every president is expected to be familiar with.

Robredo, who has difficulty speaking in straight English, tried to look scholarly by wearing eyeglasses during her past press conferences. The public saw that move as a cosmetic overhaul.

Rivals are offended by the underhanded way Robredo dealt with them. Her so-called “unity talks” with rivals like Senators Panfilo Lacson, Manny Pacquiao and Richard Gordon, and with Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso were unsuccessful because they all saw that she wants to be the sole candidate for president.

Five-and-half years as vice president, Robredo could not even make up her mind if she will run for president. An indecisive person should not be trusted with high office.

When Robredo finally announced her presidential run two weeks ago, she said her objective in doing so is to prevent ex-Senator Bongbong Marcos, her rival in the 2016 vice presidential election, from winning as president. In other words, Robredo’s platform for seeking the presidency is based on personalities, and not on issues.

Intolerant of the views of others, Robredo denounced Domagoso for the latter’s good words about the late President Ferdinand Marcos. Two weeks earlier, Robredo was with him discussing her possible alliance with the mayor.

Although Robredo claims she remains the chairman of the moribund and much despised Liberal Party, she insists she is running for president as an “independent” candidate. She also ditched the color yellow, long associated with her LP, and adopted pink as her new campaign hue.

Despite disassociating herself from the LP, Robredo’s vice-presidential running mate is Senator Francis Pangilinan, the current LP president. Her campaign manager is ex-Senator Bam Aquino, also of the LP.

Robredo’s decision to ditch yellow and identify herself with pink, and to run as an “independent” candidate for president but with a running mate and a campaign manager from the LP, smacks of political opportunism and duplicity. She actually thinks the voters are stupid enough to fall for her ruse.

It is no mystery why Robredo is intensely disliked by many.