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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Robredo camp twits Roque's claim that 'Duterte really knows what it takes to be president'

Robredo camp twits Roque's claim that 'Duterte really knows what it takes to be president'

Published Feb 17, 2021 02:56 pm

The camp of Vice President Leni Robredo on Wednesday asked administration officials why problems are besetting the pandemic response if President Duterte knows what it takes to lead the country.

President Rodrigo Duterte & Vice President Leni Robredo (MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)

In a tweet on Wednesday, Robredo’s spokesperson Ibarra Gutierrez III questioned his counterpart,  Presidential spokesman Harry Roque about his assertion that Duterte knows if a person has what it takes to become the next Philippine president.

“Because he's really the guy who knows all about how to lead a country competently, right?” he wrote with a skull emoji.

Robredo’s spokesperson accompanied his tweet with screenshots of various news reports about the Philippines’ low ranking and errors in COVID-19 response, including the weakening economy amid the pandemic.

The country has experienced a 9.5 percent decrease in gross domestic product, which the Philippine Statistics Authority earlier said was not only the worst since 1946, but it was also the lowest recorded since it started tracking GDP in the same year. 

Officially, the country’s economy entered into a recession in the second quarter of last year when the GDP contracted by 16.5 percent because of the lockdown restrictions that halted economic activities in all sectors. 

Gutierrez was responding to Roque who insisted Duterte knows what he is talking about when he said Robredo is not fit for the presidency.

“Because he has become a president himself, he knows if a person is qualified to become one,” Roque said in Filipino over State-run PTV-4.

Roque’s reaction came after Robredo said on Tuesday night in a press briefing that it’s up to the voting public, not Duterte, to decide if she’s fit to become the president.

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