Leni Robredo’s dishonesty and grandstanding during disasters is turning Filipino voters off

Current Vice President Leni Robredo is a dishonest person. That needs to be emphasized as a community service. The public needs to know that she has been the bane of Philippine society since she started her stint as the second in the presidential line of succession or a spare tire if we are to be blunt about it. She quite often acts as if she is the President though. She does not care about protocols. She forgets her place in the world order.

Robredo quite often takes a swipe at President Rodrigo Duterte like it is part of her job. She tries very hard to paint the President as uncaring while painting herself as the country’s saviour. The fact is, she is only doing further damage to an already fragmented society by constantly contradicting Duterte’s policies and directives. We all know she has an axe to grind against Duterte for sacking her twice from his cabinet. She was sacked for being incompetent and for always talking to the media about her “ideas” before discussing things with other fellow cabinet members. In short, she is not a team player. We knew this would happen since she is a member of the Opposition.

The recent typhoon that devastated parts of the country, particularly Cagayan and Isabela, exposed once again not just the country’s vulnerability to disasters but also Robredo’s penchant for grandstanding. In a show of clockwork-like predictability, she was pictured walking in flooded waters making all kinds of efforts to “help” the victims of the typhoon. One can be forgiven for saying she was trying to overshadow the first responders of the rescue operation. If she really cared, she would get out of the way and let the experts get on with their jobs with urgency. But she wouldn’t let an opportunity for an early campaign for the next election to slip by especially with the media following her every move.

Unfortunately, Robredo and her rabid supporters including her own daughters Tricia and Aika were trying their best to undermine the state’s rescue efforts by claiming the government abandoned the people who were in distress. That’s exceedingly unfair to the hard-working men and women of the government emergency response teams in the military, coast guard, and local governments who risked their lives to help those in need.

Robredo sisters Tricia and Aika exhibited a lack of grace and solidarity with Filipinos as Typhoon Ulysses ravaged the country.

The Opposition made sure the hashtag #NasaanAngPangulo “trended” again and again to make it look like Duterte was “missing in action” at the height of the recent typhoons. Robredo’s daughters Tricia and Aika were leading the pack of wolves attacking Duterte on social media. They were implying he was still sleeping while the country was getting battered by typhoon Ulysses. It’s worth noting that Robredo’s daughters are are not very smart. They don’t realise that because they are closely related to the Vice President, anything they say for or against Duterte has implications and reflects on the Office of the Vice President. It came as no surprise when Duterte finally responded to them.

Duterte called out Robredo for her opportunistic moves and swore to expose her as a liar for “pretending to make calls” and giving the impression she was coordinating rescue efforts. The President had to remind her that coordination with the different government agencies was done prior to the typhoon arriving and what she was doing was merely reacting to the situation. Of course Robredo wouldn’t have a clue about the government’s efforts because she is not in the loop. She’s not included in the meetings.

It was only right for Duterte to do that. Robredo never bothered to correct her rabid supporters including her own daughters who were asking where the President was during the typhoon when their mother knew where Duterte was – at an ASEAN summit. Robredo just allowed the hashtag to go on. She was probably so flattered by their praises to realise she was coming across as a narcissist blaming the President for the disaster and she taking all the credit for the government agencies’ rescue efforts.

In her defense, Robredo claimed she didn’t ask where the President was during the typhoon. But her statements to the media imply that there was absence of leadership during a crisis. She called Duterte “pikon” and said she stepped in because the government didn’t seem to be answering flood victims’ tweets. That wasn’t a very smart thing to say. If there is a national emergency, one shouldn’t rely on social media for answers. As the country’s Vice President, she should know what hotline to use for emergencies.

Robredo’s main problem is her vanity. She loves the media attention. The media is causing her downfall though. They are feeding her narcissism. Some members of mainstream media are propping up Robredo and fashioning her into some sort of Florence Nightingale figure. Her every move is documented as if what she’s doing is so different from what a lot of Vice Presidents did in the past. Previous VP’s like Jejomar Binay were even criticised for being trapo (traditional politician) for doing the same thing she’s doing now.

The media keeps praising Robredo as if she’s the only government official working. But she’s not the one doing the dirty work and actually rescuing people. What she’s doing is already being done by the local government and members of the military and Coast Guard. Yes, more help is needed but they are making her into a saint as a matter of misplaced priority.

All this is in preparation of the next Presidential election in 2022. This early, Robredo is already campaigning because her supporters are pushing her. It’s sometimes baffling why out of all Liberal Party members they only have Leni as the top bet for the 2022 Presidential Election. It’s likely because, one, no one else wants to put their hand up because it is a fact it is a losing party and, two, Leni is the only one dumb enough not to realise that.

If Robredo were honest with herself, she would say “I’m sorry but I cannot handle the job of the Presidency”. The problem is she is not honest with herself and her supporters. She thinks being President is all about giving dole outs to the public and making Filipinos look like sad charity cases while she plays Santa Claus. If she continues to undermine the efforts of government agencies including the military, she will fall out of their favour and lose respect. Some military men have already expressed their disdain for her.

No wonder a lot of people call Robredo the President of Twitter. Her followers and supporters are good at making hashtags “trend” on social media but fail miserably in getting the voters’ support during elections where it really counts. It’s obviously because hashtags can trend using fewer people while winning an election needs real people. They don’t even have originality. The hashtag #NasaanAngPangulo was first used on Noynoy when instead of attending the wake of the slain SAF, he went to an inauguration at a Japanese factory. The context was different then. Now they are using it to demand Duterte go out during a strong typhoon.

These people are never going to win an election because the public can see through their lies and negative propaganda. Honestly, they are simply not going to win with Robredo as their leader.

Ilda

In life, things are not always what they seem.