“Hindi ako mag-aapologize sa kanilang paniniwala.”
Vice President Leni Robredo did not mince words on Malacanang’s latest attack against her daughters whose tweets were displayed in public by Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque during his online media briefing last week.
In her radio show Sunday, Robredo defended her daughters and insisted that none of them has plans to push a career in politics even if public service has been a part of their lives.
To recall, Roque showed screenshots of tweets made by two of Robredo’s daughters, saying they were the ones looking for President Duterte where he was in the aftermath of Typhoon Ulysses.
Aika, the eldest daughter of the vice president, tweeted, “Sabado eh (It’s Saturday). Weekend.” Her younger sibling, Tricia, also said, “Tulog pa rin? Alas otso na. (Still asleep? It’s already 8 o’clock.)”
But they did not mention any name nor their tweets contain the hashtag #NasaanAngPangulo (where is the president), where it became trending online during the onslaught of the typhoon.
“Hindi ako mag-a-apologize sa kanilang mga paniniwala. Kasi itong mga anak ko, lahat ito hindi umasa sa aming impluwensya o pangalan. Kung ano man iyong kanilang na-accomplish dahil iyon sa kanilang hard work,” Robredo said, citing also that she was not aware of the tweets not until Roque’s public briefing.
(I will not apologize for their beliefs because my daughters do not depend on influence or name. Whatever they have accomplished, that is because of their hard work.)
Robredo also pointed out that her daughters have their own relief assistance drives for the typhoon-hit victims, where the group of her youngest daughter, Jillian, was able to raise more than P1 million and adopted a community in Pasacao, Camarines Sur as their beneficiary.
Like her, the VP said her daughters were also attacked by trolls for the longest time.
But she said: "Hindi ako magstu-stoop down sa level nila. Hindi ako magstu-stoop down sa kabastusan. Makikita mo naman, Ka Ely, pare-pareho. Iyong magkakakampi, pareho iyong mga values. Magkakasama, lahat bastos. Magkakasama, mga sinungaling."
Robredo also clarified that her office is not competing against the government.
President Duterte fumed over Robredo's typhoon efforts and accused the latter for lying about his whereabouts.
Duterte told Robredo during his recent televised address: "Do not compete with me."
With a small budget and limited capacity, Robredo said the OVP is operating “the same” since she assumed office in 2016.
“Wala po ditong nakikipag-unahan, kasi hindi naman namin kayang makipag-unahan,” she added.