Amid a deluge of social media posts asking #NasaanAngPangulo, Vice President Leni Robredo on Friday said it was a “natural instinct” for the people to look for their leader in times of crisis, especially during the coronavirus pandemic.
President Duterte was last seen by the public through his weekly address to the nation on March 29. Since then, the number of COVID-19 cases in the country has ballooned to 828,366 with 167,279 active cases as of April 8.
Although his former aide, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, posted two purportedly recent photos of the President at the Bahay ng Pagbabago at the Presidential Security Group (PSG) compound, that didn’t stop netizens from making the #NasaanAngPangulo trend once more on social media.
During her interview with ANC’s Headstart, Robredo seconded the netizens’ concerns over Duterte’s seeming absence, which Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said was for health safety after at least 45 PSG members tested positive for COVID-19.
“Sa akin, may basis kung bakit naghahanap kasi ganoon naman. Hindi lang presidente. Kahit mayor, governor, basta may nangyayari sa lugar mo, (For me, there’s a basis why they are looking for him. It’s not just the president. Even if it’s the mayor, governor, when something is happening in their place) it’s the natural instinct to look for their leader,” she said.
At the local level, “people will wait for your mayor to be visible, to say that ‘everything is alright, we are on top of the situation, this is what we are doing’.”
The vice president said Filipinos want an “assurance” that “everything is under control.”
The lack of assurance stresses the people more, she added. “Parati ang tanong saan na ba tayo pupunta, kaya pa ba natin? (The question always is where are we going, can we still take it?) I think that’s where it is all coming from.”
Robredo said the country needs someone who will act as the “conductor” of an orchestra.
“He doesn’t play the instrument but he’s the one who is putting order in the lot of things. Iyon ang nakikita ko na kulang ngayon kasi (That’s what I can see that’s lacking because) in fairness to everyone, everyone is working. Everyone is exhausted already from last year.”
The opposition leader, however, added that it would be better if Duterte will be the one to lead in making the orders for the government’s COVID-19 response.
His orders will carry more weight than his subordinates, Robredo stressed.
But the vice president, who’s been active in her COVID-19 response programs, doesn’t want to dwell too much on these things.
“Rather than spending a lot of time looking for this and that, gagawin na lng namin ‘yung kaya namin gawin kasi kailangan ng tao (we are just going to do what we can because the people need it),” she said.
Robredo recently launched two new initiatives under the Office of the Vice President (OVP)—the Swab Cab free mobile antigen testing program and the Bayanihan E-Konsulta project for free online medical teleconsultation.