Vice President Leni Robredo has unsolicited advice for former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. after his defeat in the electoral protest: Focus on your candidacy.

Robredo, a leader of the opposition, said Marcos should give attention on the May 2022 polls instead of casting doubt on the integrity of the Supreme Court.

“Kaya nga may eleksyon kasi ito iyong pagkakataon na, ‘di ba, na ipapakilala mo iyong sarili mo, sasabihin mo iyong mga plano mo (This is the reason why we have elections because it is your chance to make yourself and your platform, right),” she said.

The vice president made the statement during her Sunday radio show on dzXL where she talked about Marcos camp’s claim that only a portion of his petition was dismissed. 

The SC, acting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunanl (PET), unanimously dismissed the election case for lack of merit, with a 15-0 vote, in favor of Robredo last week.

But Marcos spokesperson Vic Rodriguez argued the PET’s dismissal of the protest does not include its third cause of action, which seeks the annulment of election results in Basilan, Lanao del Sur, and Maguindanao. 

Robredo said this “casts doubt on the integrity” of the country’s democratic institutions such as the SC and the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

“Ako nga, dahil sa tagal ng kaso ang daming nagduda sa akin, sa legitimacy ng aking mandato. Pero sa atin, tiniis natin iyon kasi alam nating may prosesong kailangan sundin (I, the legitimacy of my mandate, was doubted because the case took so long. But I endured it because I know there is a process to be followed),” she said.

“Iyon iyong nakakalungkot kasi hindi na lang ito between us, eh. Iyong laban hindi lang Marcos versus Robredo, eh. Pero alam mo iyon, kapag sinira mo iyong democratic institutions, iyong sinisira mo iyong bansa natin (This is saddening because it is not just between us. The fight is not about Marcos versus Robredo. But if you destroy the democratic institutions, you destroy our country),” she said.

Rodriguez announced Marcos would definitely run for office next year after the SC upheld Robredo’s 2016 electoral victory.

Marcos served as senator from June 2010 to June 2016 before running for vice president, where he lost to Robredo by a slim margin.