Robredo decries bullying of her daughters

Vice President Leni Robredo has decried the bullying of her daughters over tweets seemingly directed at President Rodrigo Duterte, saying they have right to speak their mind on government policies just like any other Filipino citizen.

“Ngayon, ang binubully mga anak ko. I have always been proud of the persons my daughters have become. They are their own persons. What they have accomplished, so far, are all borne out of their hard work. They never used our name or whatever little influence we have to get what they want,” Robredo said.

“They’re all adults now. They’re not in government. They are not politicians and they don’t plan to be. Totoo, they’re outspoken and rightfully so. We have trained them to stand up for themselves and what they believe in,” she added.

Robredo did not drop names but issued the statement after presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the President’s insults at the Vice President two days ago was justified because her daughters and her spokesperson, Barry Gutierrez, were looking for the physical presence of Duterte amid massive flooding due to typhoon Ulysses.

Roque showed the Twitter posts of Robredo’s daughters, Aika and Tricia, asking if somebody is still asleep. Her daughters, however, did not name names.

Likewise, Roque quoted Gutierrez over Robredo’s weekly radio show saying“Sabi nga Ka Ely, kung talagang gusto, may paraan; pero kung ayaw gawin ay maraming dahilan. Kung tatanungin mo iyong security sasabihin niya, kung maaari huwag na, nandoon na mismo ang principal, kung tutuloy siya o hindi.”

The President has falsely accused Robredo of being behind the hashtag #NasaanAngPangulo when Typhoon Ulysses was battering the country and expressed indignation of her as a result, asking where she goes home at night and vowing to make her possible 2022 presidential run a nightmare.

The hashtag, however, became a top trending topic on Twitter due to huge number of Twitter users posting it. The Robredo sisters did not use the hashtag in their tweets.

Robredo responded by saying she never looked for the President amid the flood crisis, adding she was already busy attending to distress calls from the public needing rescuing due to the overwhelming amount of flood waters that left so many calling rescue from the roofs of their houses.

Roque then justified the President’s insults on Robredo by saying it was her supporters who were behind the hashtag, including Robredo’s daughters and spokesperson.

“Alam ninyo hindi naman po plastic si Presidente at hindi naman niya ngayon lang ginawa iyan. Consistent po ang behavior ng Presidente. Is that unpresidential? I don’t think so because 91% of the people have said that they trust and they believe that the President is performing well in his duties. Is it unpresidential? According to 91% of our people, no; according to 5%, including the Vice President, yes,” Roque said in a Palace briefing.

“Sa mula’t mula ganiyan po si Presidente, tinanggap naman siya ng taumbayan at hindi na po siya magbabago ‘no para lang matuwa iyong ilan sa ating lipunan. No explanations required, ganoon po talaga si Presidente and we accepted him as such,” Roque added.—AOL, GMA News