- ‘To me, being a woman in this position comes with a responsibility to use my platform to actively promote women empowerment, beyond the buzz words and through actual programs and practices that aim to improve their condition’
- On fake news: ‘The many, many vicious accusations that have been hurled against me are untrue, so I don’t lose sleep over them’
- On women leaders: ‘Throughout our history, we have known women leaders across levels of government and society, and many of them have been examples of what compassionate and strategic leadership looks like’
- To her daughters, she says: ‘Share your voice, and stand for those who are not able to do it for themselves’
Vice President Leni Robredo is not one to back down from a fight.
She’s faced many political fights in the past decade among them winning as congresswoman in 2013 against Camarines Sur’s powerful Villafuerte family; and the more recent fight for the vice presidency against former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Last month, the Supreme Court, acting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal, upheld the victory of Robredo in the 2016 vice presidential race.
And there’s the constant fight to get the truth out in social media where she is often criticized and maligned by fake news.
Before becoming vice president, Robredo, a lawyer and human rights advocate, worked at the grassroots level in her hometown of Camarines Sur.
Today, she holds the second-highest position in government.
For Women’s Month, we interviewed VP Robredo to share her insights on women leaders.
“To me, being a woman in this position comes with a responsibility to use my platform to actively promote women empowerment, beyond the buzz words and through actual programs and practices that aim to improve their condition,” Robredo said.
Her job as the vice president of the country is not an easy one. But even with the online bashing, the calm demeanor of Robredo has reflected great inner strength.
Above all, she is a single mother raising three daughters who she hopes will “stand up not only for themselves, but for those who may need them to.”
“I think there is an innate awareness among my girls about the platform that comes with who their parents are,” Robredo said in an email exchange with the Manila Bulletin.
Her husband, former Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, a decorated local official of Naga City, died in a plane crash in August 2012.
While she strives to be a good role model for her daughters, the vice president stressed that “it doesn’t make our actions curated.”
“Rather, it’s ingrained in our way of life already, because that has always been our norm—to live simply, and be intentional about our actions, and if we can, to act for the welfare of others,” she added.
"I think that my position allows me to show that working single mothers, like myself, are capable of contributing—and leading—not only in our families, but in our communities and society as a whole.”
Angat Buhay
The vice president is known for her flagship program — Angat Buhay — which was created to protect Filipino women by giving them economic independence.
This was an inspiration she gathered from the experience of working as an alternative lawyer representing abused and marginalized women before she joined politics.
Women in the Visayas and Mindanao have been empowered by the Angat Buhay program that capacitates women entrepreneurs to grow their businesses.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the OVP also brought the program to Luzon provinces where it tapped local seamstresses to produce personal protective equipment (PPE) for health care workers all over the country.
Dealing with social media
Since she resigned from the Cabinet in 2016 at the start of the administration’s war against illegal drugs, she had faced many forms of verbal abuse and statements that maligned her in social media.
But she has never lost her cool.
“For me, it comes from knowing the truth—knowing that I’m striving to do the right thing. The many, many vicious accusations that have been hurled against me are untrue, so I don’t lose sleep over them,” Robredo said.
“These hateful words are no match to the pain of losing my husband, and I won’t let them define who I am,” she added.
At first, she let those accusations and fake news slide, trusting that the public will eventually figure out the truth. But Robredo learned the hard way that the public will feed on what information it gets from fake news peddlers.
“What I try to do now is to confront the lies with the truth, because the people deserve to know them, especially amid the active and malicious disinformation against me and what our office has been doing,” she said.
Women leaders
Her office received the Commission on Audit’s (COA) highest rating and its International Organization for Standardization (ISO) recertification for quality management system.
Robredo noted that the Philippines “has been open and ready for a female president” since the restoration of its democracy after the People Power revolution in 1986.
“Throughout our history, we have known women leaders across levels of government and society, and many of them have been examples of what compassionate and strategic leadership looks like,” she said.
“There is, indeed, great value in the perspective and skills of women in leadership positions, and this is why we continue to push to open more spaces to allow them to thrive.”
Meanwhile, Robredo’s supporters have been pushing her to run in the elections next year, possibly going against presidential daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio or Senator Christopher “Bong” Go.
She remains mum about her plans.
Competence and character
Robredo believes that “it must come down to competence and character, especially because the next president will have to be swift and decisive in acting on the many problems that have stemmed not only from the pandemic, but from our slow response to such.”
In the past year, the vice president had been critical of the administration’s slow COVID-19 response that failed to contain the transmission of the virus, overwhelmed the healthcare system, and dragged the economy down.
“We’ll need someone who can give us a clear direction, someone who is organized and unafraid to make tough choices, someone who will listen to experts and understand that time is of the essence and lives are on the line,” she said.
‘Laban lang’
The road to recovery is long, and the vice president knows that.
“Laban lang (Just fight). There are many moments in our lives when we might find ourselves thinking that we won’t be able to get past it, but have faith in yourself and soldier on,” Robredo said.
The vice president echoed the same wisdom she imparts to her daughters: “Share your voice, and stand for those who are not able to do it for themselves.”
But similar to the challenges she faces every day, overcoming one’s struggles “is just one part of a bigger picture,” Robredo stressed.
She urged those who might want to forge their own way to “give back by sharing your strength and looking out for others.”