Things have been moving too fast in Philippine politics lately that it’s hard to keep up. I have been promising myself I would write about current Vice President Leonor “Leni” Robredo’s relentless attacks on the government – a government she is a part of, but before I had a chance to do it, President Rodrigo Duterte offered her a post as co-chair of his anti-drug body Inter-Agency Committe on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD). I also wanted to write about that. Then she accepted it. Before I could write about that too, two weeks later, she got fired!
The news of Robredo getting sacked was reported around the globe. It’s one of the worst things that can happen to anyone. It’s the mother of all embarrassing situations for a politician. This is the second time Robredo had been fired from Duterte’s cabinet. It would be unbelievable for someone who has not been following how the events unfolded. For those who haven’t been following it or have been ignoring her statements, they might ask, does Robredo deserve it? My unbiased and non-partisan opinion says she does.
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If we do a flashback from two weeks ago, it was easy to see Robredo was walking into a trap of her own making. She told the media that Duterte’s drug war has failed. Mind you, she didn’t even have any data or facts to back her claim. Of course Duterte got pissed off. He offered her a post as “drug czar” – to give her a chance to prove she can do a better job. After all, she’s been acting like she knows better than everyone. Against the advice of her party-mates and supporters, Robredo accepted the offer. She was pumped up about it. She even had the gall to ask if everyone was ready for her.
Unfortunately, she started to unravel from Day One on the job. Robredo started asking irrelevant questions like how many drug addicts are in the country. As if drug addicts would readily admit they are drug addicts. She was also suggesting that there should be zero deaths in the drug war. That was too naïve and unrealistic. Members of illegal drug syndicates are among the most dangerous people on Earth. They won’t hesitate to kill anyone who gets in their way. Robrebo was putting policemen’s lives in danger. Her ideas were merely pandering to the so-called “human rights” advocates who seem to care more about the lives of psychopaths and killers than innocent people.
It all went pear-shaped for Robredo after she said she planned to meet with officials from both the United States (US) Embassy and the United Nations (UN) “to discuss issues and possible improvements on the war on drugs”. At first I thought, what the heck is she doing? She was exhibiting that all-too-familiar colonial mentality. Instead of meeting with member of local agencies tasked to tackle the drug problem, she prioritized asking foreigners for advice. I had a feeling it would piss Duterte off and, as it turns out, it certainly did. He eventually said that Robredo cannot be trusted with sensitive information because she could divulge them to enemies of the state.
Okay, just so no one accuses me of being biased, I also thought it was a bad idea for Duterte to offer Robredo a role in his drug war in the first place because she cannot be trusted and she would be a hindrance to the operation. I knew Duterte was making a mistake because he already advised voters against Robredo and said she would be a nightmare if she becomes President. But I can understand why he had a knee-jerk reaction to her criticism of the drug war.
Now that Duterte fired Robredo, her supporters have listed down all the possible reasons why he did, including one about Duterte supposedly being “scared” of her. Someone even said it’s because she’s a woman. They are delusional. It was obvious that Robredo had nothing on Duterte and has come across as wielding no influence on public perception. The public easily sees through her motherhood statements. Her gender had nothing to do with her getting fired. There are a lot of women in Duterte’s government and they are all doing fine.
Robredo’s supporters should stop lying to themselves. Deep down they knew Leni was going to make a fool of herself which is why they didn’t want her to accept the post. They knew there was a chance she could be exposed as incompetent and un-presidential. Besides, they themselves also asked Duterte to just fire her. Robredo simply did not fit the culture in Duterte’s cabinet. She was not a team player. She was trying too hard to prove that she is better than everyone.
The sooner the Liberal Party and its supporters accept that Robredo is the wrong person to lead them through the next election, the higher the probability of success in the next election.
In the press statements she made after getting fired, Robredo issued veiled threats against the Duterte government and said that she will be publicizing stuff she found out during her stint in the agency. She is setting herself up for another failure. She doesn’t learn. Whatever it is that she is about to expose is not going to hurt a popular President. Duterte has always been vocal and transparent about his policies. This is another attempt at putting the government down just because she got fired.
The more she talks, the more Robredo proves she is vindictive. That is a sign she is not very smart. Her emotional intelligence is low. She can’t control her emotions. She should learn to say less words especially since her words only showcase her true character.
There’s not an ounce of humility in Leni Robredo. She is not capable of introspection. The praises she gets from the inbred cliques of people around her got into her head. Getting fired for the second time should be a humbling experience for her. Unfortunately for her and the Filipino people, she is too arrogant, too full of herself, and too incompetent to get her own agenda going. She will eventually hammer the final nail into the Liberal Party coffin.
In life, things are not always what they seem.
robredo missed the boat when she accepted the offer without even asking for an audience where she can deliver her stuff on equal footing with Duterte.
she again failed when she never requested for a dialogue with Duterte as soon as she got on board.
she ruined it all when she opted to speak with UN and US officials, instead of her own loop at ICAD, in full Press-con-ala-media where she can articulate herself for all the public to see and therefore gain respect.
boba lang?
that’s the best thing to do.
she should’ve known better when all along she doesn’t really know how to do the job done. she showed how incompetent she is by asking this and that to other countries.. ESTUPIDA!
How would you rate a General, who would disarm his/her troops; to go to war and engage the enemy ? The war on drugs is a vicious war…drug dealers do not hesitate to kill, or have nothing to do with “human rights”…
Lugaw Robredo is just plain dumb and stupid. No wonder, she flunked her Bar Exams three (3) times…
Then, she went to ask the U.S, for help in the war on drugs…next was she ask the United Nations , for help. Can we not have the ability and brains to conduct a successful war on drugs ?
We have talented and good people who can conduct the war on drugs, and win it…
On the other hand, she asked for the lists of “high value targets of drug dealers”, It is then very obvious, that she is politicizing the war on drugs. She will submit the lists, to the U.S. ; the U.N, and the International Criminal Court (I.C.C.), and the European Union; to use as evidence, of the “crime against humanity” charges of Duterte.
It is Good Riddance, that she is fired. The woman ‘s every move, was followed by a throng of press con people, to glorify her every move, and build her reputation.
Trust is also a factor in her being fired. She asked to be trusted. How can you trust an election cheater , and a fake Vice President, who won her VP position thru voters’ frauds ? … It is well known that she won the position to become a willing puppet of the Aquino Cojuangco political axis…the crook, Andres Bautista, who was found with multi million pesos bribe money, facilitated the winning of Lugaw Robredo , as VP. The COMELEC crook, Bautista is now a “tago ng tago” criminal in America, enjoying his bribes…
Lugaw Robredo is just a “Pain in the Ass” of Duterte…they were trying to remove Duterte thru impeachment on day one of his term…then thru “coup d’ etat” like the Bikoy – SODOMA project of Trililing Trillanes. .. Lugaw Robredo is an active participant of all of these insanities… Now, the Drug Czar debacle is her latest !
can you give me one example in history of a “drug war” that worked?
Duterte’s worked… can’t you see that leni is very frustrated.
for the mere fact that she is not able to take even a single step is a triumph that nobody will have achieved.
Duterte stated it in two big swings.. HIRE and FIRE in two weeks.
what do you mean it worked? drug trade still going strong, he promised to end it in 6 months.
even leni can’t show a name. she was asking and so deluded when the job was in her face.
she foolishly accepted and was not even able to take a step.
that will only mean, she ain’t got no problem, and was working on just destroying Duterte.
now, that’s a drug war Victory.
Just when she was finally all fired up about making a difference in her new role, Leni gets fired.
This level of humiliation is worse than facing a firing squad in just one’s underwear. Where does she get the audacity to still keep appearing before media outlets after all this?
Imagine having Santa grant a little girl the gift of her dreams only to have Thanos come into the room to pulverize it before she could even remove the wrapping.
A normal person would simply run away to hide and cry – but nope, not Leni. She’s so full of herself she even uses Inquirer’s front page as her daily mirror before heading off to work.
you are probably a quitter in life that’s why you cant understand her behavior.
what is strange in leni?
she got hired and was fired, all in two weeks.
and still trying to build from that embarrassment?
how? by again saying that “are we ready for her” and now tuned up to “she is just getting started”?
lip service is lip service… someone with meat is obviously a meat, as well as peanuts are actually peanuts, no matter how you deliver all that “motherhood-statements”
Please, do elaborate on her behavior to educate quitters in life…
She blew her chance, her “Sincerity” in working with an administration while playing Opposition-Activist was suspect for a very long time, if we don’t change the electoral process, we’ll continue to have Vice Presidents from opposition parties not acting like as an alter-ego or second in command to the Presidential Office.
She played her hand by doing media announcements after media announcements, she would have done well if she paraded “Victims” of the “Failed Drug War” while citing nonsense statistics.
why do you pretend to be unbiased when you are duterte’s biggest cheerleader? didnt you condone him saying he raped and fingered their house helper? correct me if i am wrong.
re the topic it is the president’s prerogative but prd acting like a king is not very healthy for our democracy.
do you really want leni to be beheaded?
why do you assume that Duterte is KING?
he is already decisive enough to see and cut, and that is presidential.
unless, you want leni’s head… i can root for that as well.
What happened to her claim of things she supposedly “found out” about the drug war? I though she was supposed to expose something? Did she just bluffed it to cover her shame of asking the US Embassy for assistance to do her job?