Vice President Leni Robredo said on Sunday, August 8, that she will suspend “exploratory talks” that aim to unify the opposition for now because of the two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila and other provinces.
There are better things that she needs to focus on now instead of the 2022 polls, the vice president stressed during her weekly radio show, “BISErbisyong Leni.”
“May panahon pa naman para puliduhin ang mga engagement at usapan. May mga bagay na mas urgent kasi ECQ nga sa maraming lugar ngayon. Syempre tuloy ang kalat ng Delta variant whether magkasundo kami or hindi (There is time to polish the engagement and talks. There are things that are more urgent because it’s ECQ in many areas now. Of course, the Delta variant will continue whether we reconcile or not),” she said.
Robredo hopes that the surge of the COVID-19 cases will soon taper down so they can give time to the exploratory talks she began weeks ago.
READ: COVID-19 response is PH's no. 1 priority — Robredo
And although she will exert her “best effort” to talk with other candidates, Robredo understands that it will be hard to unify the opposition.
“Inaasahan ko na magiging mahirap ang negotiation kasi iba-iba ang pinanggalingan namin (I expect for the negotiation to be hard because we are coming from different perspectives),” she said.
So far, the vice president has met with Senators Richard Gordon and Panfilo Lacson, as well as the latter’s runningmate Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III.
Her talk with Lacson did not end well because she rejected the senator’s proposal to file their Certificates of Candidacy (COCs) and then withdraw them after a certain period of time to support the best contender based on survey results.
Robredo has not yet decided whether to run as president, but she has always been vocal about wanting to unify the opposition. If she does not run for president, the vice president said she wants to make sure she’s instrumental in winning against the administration’s bets.
READ: VP camp: Running for president still Robredo's first option
As regards her plans, Robredo said she’s giving herself until October 8, the last day of the filing of the COC as ruled by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
But if she makes up her mind by September, the vice president said she will announce her candidacy.