Whether in jest or not, children always complain about how their mothers micromanage them. Take Vice President Leni Robredo out of that because she has never tried to micromanage her three daughters and instead trusts them to make the right decisions for themselves.
Her eldest daughter, Aika, is a testament to that. During a podcast episode of TEA-ta Talk with Twitter Titas, Aika shared that her mother has always had a silent demeanor even when she’s angry at them.
“When she’s at the peak of her anger, she doesn’t talk to you. She does silent treatment. So, it’s harder I think rather than getting reprimanded,” she said in Filipino.
That’s why she and her sisters, Tricia and Jillian, have learned to listen to their mother when she’s reminding them about something.
Aika said the vice president never shouts. They are also non-confrontational as a family, so they let the anger subside and wait for a sign that it’s okay to talk with their mother again.
For her part, the vice president said she has never micromanaged her kids because she believes that the best way to teach them is to show them.
“Sa akin, iyong pagturo by example kaysa yung nagsesermon. Sina Aika would attest sa akin (For me, teaching by example is better than reprimanding them. Aika would attest to that) I would let them be,” Robredo said, adding that in college, she never imposed a curfew on her daughter, who lived in a dorm that time.
The elder Robredo never missed out on reminder them of certain things, of course, such as not to take the taxi alone at night.
But the biggest factor in why the vice president doesn’t worry about her kids’ schooling is because she trust that she and their father, the late former Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, were good examples to them.
“Tingin ko naassimilate naman ng mga bata kung ano ikaw eh, na hindi mo naman kailangan pangaralan ng pangaralan. Ako, I think iyon ang strongest na influence sa mga bata (I think the kids can assimilate who you are that you don’t need to reprimand them again and again. For me, I think that’s the strongest influence on the kids),” she said.
Robredo added that her kids have always been diligent with studying because they watched her take up her law degree when they were kids. The vice president married the former Naga City mayor a few years before she entered law school.
It is also their work ethic that she believes influences their daughters to be as diligent with their work.
“Pero it’s not something na sinasabi ko sa kanila, ‘ganito gawin mo, dapat ganito gawin mo’ (But it’s not something that I tell them ‘do this, do that’),” Robredo said.
Meanwhile, the vice president revealed she also doesn’t try to interfere too much in their love lives. She doesn’t think it should be “too much of a concern” for her because she trust their choices.
“Sa tingin ko kasi nakita nila iyong tatay nila as a person. Tapos nakita nila (I think they saw their father as a person. They saw) how their father treated me. So, ang tingin ko iyong standards nila idedemand from their partners ganun din eh (So, I think they will demand the same standards from their partners). Meaning to say, I don’t think they would settle for anything less,” she said.
The lady official noted she met some of their suitors in the past and said that she liked all of them.
“Pero syempre iba iyong pagtingin ko sa pagtingin nila. Marami din naman akong hindi nakikita. Ultimately, sila naman iyong makikisama hindi naman ako (But of course, I see things differently. There are many things I don’t see, too. Ultimately, they are going ones who will be with them, and not me),” Robredo said.