By Raymund Antonio
Amid early noise for next year’s midterm polls, Vice President Leni Robredo does not see herself switching political parties.
Not now, not ever.
Vice President Leni Robredo
(Leni Robredo Official Facebook page / MANILA BULLETIN)
Robredo, chair of the erstwhile ruling Liberal Party, maintained she will not leave LP even after it lost most of its members to the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan.
PDP-Laban is the party of President Duterte.
Asked about the possibility of switching allegiance, the Vice President said she has opted to remain with LP even if she’s the “only one left.”
Robredo, who was a congresswoman of Camarines Sur, pointed out it was “impossible” that she will join another political party.
“Nag-umpisa ako sa Liberal, matatapos ako sa Liberal (I started with the Liberal , I will end with the Liberal),” the Vice President said in a televised interview recently.
“Sumama ako sa Liberal dahil sa paniniwala. Naniniwala ako sa mga prinsipyo ng partido at patuloy na naniniwala (I joined the Liberal because of my beliefs. I believe in the principle of the party and will continue believing in it)," she added.
The LP, which ruled during the time of then President Benigno Aquino III, lost most of its members, including some of its highest-ranking leaders, to Duterte-backed PDP-Laban.
But the LP has been rebuilding and strengthening its membership by recruiting nonpoliticians.
Just in January, some 500 nonpoliticians from Manila, Cebu, and Robredo’s hometown Naga took their oath as LP members.
These recruits were nonpoliticians from the academe, youth and other sectors while the others were professionals and development workers.