You made your bed. Now you have to lie on it. This is the underlying principle that guides whether or not “vice president” Leni Robredo was right to get onto the world stage to shriek about the “horrors” of the “extrajudicial killings” (EJKs) going on in the Philippines.
The EJKs (whatever way it is defined) are a domestic problem. As such, they need to be addressed through domestic channels — which means the Philippine Government needs to get its act together to resolve them. Robredo is part of that government. For a “vice presdient” to invite foreigners to intervene in the Philippines’ domestic affairs is bad form — which is why many consider what Robredo did to be an impeachable offense.
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The thing the “vice president” needs to understand is that her office is part of the system. The workings of this system are guided by the Philippine Constitution and the body of laws it frames. As such, everything that is seen to be a contributor to the complications that hobble the efforts to resolve “EJKs” can be traced back to inherent flaws in this system; that is,
(1) The adversarial relationship between the Vice President and the President owing to the way the people elected to those offices are elected separately;
(2) The ineffectual way the criminal investigation and justice delivery systems resolve and punish criminal activity; and,
(3) The farcical mechanisms through which government officials are held to account.
All of these are mechanisms within a system of governance Filipinos formulated, debated, and ratified. Politicians who seek — and ascend to — office within the framework of this system (through elections, official appointments, and referenda) in principle sign up to everything about the way it works, warts and all.
By making sumbong to foreigners, Robredo is essentially discrediting the system she had signed up to and had become a part of in 2016. In effect, Robredo put her hands up and proclaiming to the world “We give up. It’s not working. Come over and take control!”
Talk about lack of personal accountability.
Robredo’s behaviour epitomises the overall character of the Filipino that makes theirs a society that continues to fail to earn international respect. Filipinos made their bed — their “democracy”. They need to learn to lie on that bed. You commit to being a “democracy”, write a democratic Constitution, and swear to defend it. Revisit the real definition of poverty and we will see why the Philippines, at its core, remains such an impoverished nation:
Poverty is a habitual entering into commitments one is inherently unable to honour.
Are Filipinos inherently unable to honour their commitment to their own Constitution and the system they had built around it? So far, people like Leni Robredo are proving that to be true.
If that bed is broken, they need to fix it themselves. That’s how adults think and behave. That is how poverty is permanently solved.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
“Are Filipinos inherently unable to honour their commitment to their own Constitution and the system they had built around it?”
Inherently? I don’t think so. Circumstantially? Yes. I think thats more accurate. The circumstance being absolute party loyalty. Robredo has declared to the world that she will lead the opposition against Duterte and Trillanes, De Lima, and others in the LP have shown solidarity with that opposition.
“Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo told local news outlets on Monday that she was ready to head up a new opposition party. ” From: Link
For Robredo and the Congress to not work with Duterte but to oppose him no matter what is certainly not good for maintaining the political institutions of this country. You are right, not just about Robredo but about all who are seeking help from foreign bodies like the UN and EU, that appealing to the international community is an admission that the Philippines cannot handle its own domestic affairs. If this really is all a ploy to get her into the Presidency then these actions show beyond all doubt that she is not Presidential at all and that shoehorning her into the office wold be a devastating mistake. Link
president duterte is a true leader. he wants pilipinos to stand on their feet for their Motherland. what if the people refused to take notice of duterte’s… ‘stop it! don’t impeach leni’?
>> appealing to the international community is an admission that the Philippines cannot handle its own domestic affairs.
Well, it can’t. There’s no shame in admitting it. Why fail because you’re too proud to ask for help?
It’s a tough choice, certainly. When you try to import foreign solutions, without understanding how they work, they’re likely to not work. But the whole point (in theory) of bodies like the UN is to stop member states failing. The Philippines failed long ago. Duterte has no ideas that can save it. Filipinos are still doing exactly what they did last year, and Duterte has been unable to inspire most of them to do anything different. So why not ask for ideas from countries who have been there before, and came out the other side smelling of roses?
Leni Robredo is just another Puppet of the Aquino Cojuangco political axis. She was placed in that, Vice President position , as their “grappling hook”, for them, to return to power, by hook or by crook. They have lost many things , like: the Hacienda Luisita ownership; their loot of gold reserves of the Philippines; political power; economic power; etc…
So, these Puppeteers continue to “pull the strings”, behind the shadows of Leni Robredo. Until, they can get back to power..
Leni Robredo and her cahoots, portrayed the Philippines, as a “Failed State”, in her videos…this was the sole purpose of her, sending the videos to the : United Nations; European Unions; and other foreign entities. The filing of the impeachment case, of Pres. Duterte by the Magdalo Partylist is a coordinated effort on these people to destabilize the government of Pres. Duterte. The Human Rights filing of a case against Pres, Duterte is another coordinated effort, by these shadowy people…
Portraying the Philippines as a “Failed State” like : Liberia, Sierra Leone; Haiti; etc…is what they want. The United Nation Peacekeepers will come over, to keep the peace in our country. Because, as Leni Robredo, had stated: “…the Filipinos are helpless and hapless…” The foreign entities, shall install , Leni Robredo, as President. And, will take, Pres. Duterte, to the International Court,to try him, for Extra Judicial killings, in the Philippines.
It is not a smart move…because , we are smart and more educated, than the people of those Failed States.
You can see how low can these Aquino Cojuangco political axis people can go. Just to save their loots and political power !
They will sacrifice the future of all Filipinos, just to satisfy their Greed ! This is all about Greed, and power grab, no more , no less ! Only in the Philippines …
don’t ask her just to apologize to the pilipinos. also ask her who’s the author of that speech and who order her to do so. she knows who’s the puppeteer.
These people behind the shadows of Leni Robredo, will not stop to destabilize the government of Pres. Duterte. They will try everything, to install , Leni Robredo, as President. All options to them, are on the table, including assassination of Pres. Duterte.
The only good move to us is: remove Leni Robredo, as Vice President. Remove and change COMELEC Chairman Bautista. Remove all Yellowtards in the COMELEC; and change SMARTMATIC…
We can also make another Constitution, and junk the Aquino constitution…give Hacienda Luisita, to the proper owners, the farmers !
the pilipinos cannot just get rid of the present constitution. the criminals violated that constitution. if you take it out, they’ll just walk away. they’re are being/will be prosecuted under the 87 constitution.
So, this is how Robredo wants to spend your taxes on! Instead of being productive & doing projects that rebuild, she’d rather spend her term & the people’s resources on another demolition job directed against targeted enemies of the Yellow Brigade ? She now can include “Professional National Liability” on her resumé.
There was a commenter here on GRP who said Pinoys hate Leni Robredo more than they love Duterte.
This is a very important point that I think Duterte himself doesn’t understand.
The anger against Leni Robredo is not about Duterte. Rather, it is a burning, overflowing rage against a clueless but ambitious puppet who has become the biggest, most shameful symbol of fraud, hypocrisy, injustice, and impunity in the Philippines.
Robredo’s continued illegal occupancy of the office of the vice president reminds Filipinos every day that:
– It is okay to steal government funds and rig an election to install an incompetent non-entity into the second-highest government position in the land.
– It is okay for said non-entity to fraudulently peddle herself to the public as an accomplished “lawyer” and bureaucrat. (Robredo may have passed the bar after three tries, but when you listen to her talk, it’s obvious she didn’t actually practice her profession to a reasonable degree. The yellows branded her a “lawyer” the way they branded Noynoy Aquino an “economist” simply because he studied economics in Ateneo.)
– It is okay for said non-entity to use half a billion pesos of taxpayers’ money to bankroll her social life and promote personal agenda by posing for magazines, cutting ribbons, holding yoga classes in her office, giving self-serving speeches, attending events, and jet-setting all over the Philippines and the world with her lover the congressman.
In short, Robredo reminds Pinoys every day, with her smug tarsier smile, that CRIME PAYS.
And Duterte is tolerating it.
This is why Pinoys are getting angrier by the day.
The one thing that will destroy Duterte in the eyes of the Filipino people is not the ICC, or the EU, or the UN, or the black propaganda of the local and international media.
It will be his failure to avenge the honor of the Filipino people against the gang rape that was done to them by Robredo and the Liberal Party when they stole the elections with taxpayers’ money, and got away with it.
People, like that so-called “VP” Maria Leonor “Leni” Santo Tomas Robredo, and that so- called “spokesperson” Georgina Hernandez, that complains all the time about problems are the one’s that need to fix their problems.
None of the Failipinos in the Failippines know how to fix themselves, at least not entirely, not well enough.