VP Leni Robredo shares how she was able to balance being a law student and a mother

Vice President Leni Robredo shared how she was able to balance being a law student and a mother at the same time.

In an episode of “Between the Queens” podcast with Pia Wurtzbach, Bianca Guidotti, and Carla Lizardo on Thursday, the Vice President said she already had children when she entered law school.

“I was working full-time during the day, I was going to law school at night. How to spend time with my children despite the fact that I was very busy at the time, napakahirap noon (it was very difficult),” she said.

She said she was lucky to have the late former Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo as her husband, who was very supportive of her dreams.

“I married (at) 22. And when my husband was asking for my hand in marriage, my Daddy told him, ‘my daughter can’t marry yet because she will be going to law school and she will become a lawyer,’” Robredo said in both English and Filipino.

“So my husband promised my Dad, ‘promise, Dad, even if we’re already married, I will make sure that she will be a lawyer.’”

When the children started coming, however, she said she was tempted to quit law school.

The VP said she felt selfish to pursue her own ambitions, but her husband encouraged her not to quit.

“He said, ‘so you won’t feel guilty, when you’re not around, I will step in,’” she said.

Robredo said her husband was then the city mayor, while she did the “supporting role.”

“When I needed to be out, some days during the week we go to the communities, hindi rin aalis iyong asawa ko (my husband will stay),” she said.

If he needed to be at the office, the children would go with him and stay at one of the rooms where they could play, she added.

Although it took her seven years to finish law school, Robredo said she did it while prioritizing being a mother.

“So I think, it only became possible because my husband was very supportive,” she said.

“Because if he was not very supportive, the guilt would have—maybe I would have decided not to pursue law school anymore.”

The Robredo couple have three children together. The former secretary died in a plane crash on Aug. 18, 2012, when he was travelling to Naga City from a conference in Cebu. – RC, GMA News