An election lawyer and a human rights lawyer have joined hundreds of lawyers urging Vice President Leni Robredo to run for president in 2022.
Lawyers Romulo Macalintal and Chel Diokno have expressed their intention to support Robredo should she decide to run for the country’s highest post.
They are among the latest legal luminaries to join the growing clamor for Robredo’s possible presidential bid after the recent launch of a lawyers' group called “Lawyers for Leni.”
“Ako’y umaasa na tatakbo si VP Leni sa darating na halalan bilang pangulo ng bansa (I’m hoping that VP Leni will run as the country’s president in the upcoming elections),” said Romulo Macalintal, the lead counsel of Robredo in the election protest filed by former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The Supreme Court, acting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), upheld Robredo’s victory in the 2016 elections, where he defeated Marcos by 263,473 votes, after it unanimously dismissed the poll protest.
“Kapag hindi siya tumakbo bilang Pangulo ng ating bansa, hindi na tayo magkakaroon ng isang lider ng bansa na ganyan magtrabaho, ganyang magpahalaga sa paglilingkod sa taumbayan at ganyan kalinis sa paghawak ng pondo ng pamahalaan at lahat ng pondo na pumupunta sa kanilang tanggapan (If she doesn’t run for president, we will no longer have a leader in the country who works and serves people like her and as transparent in handling government funds and all the budget going to her office),” he said.
The election lawyer cited that the Office of the Vice President (OVP) obtained the highest rating from the Commission on Audit (COA) under Robredo’s leadership.
During last Friday’s virtual launch of Lawyers for Leni, over 300 lawyers signed a unity statement urging Robredo to run for president in the upcoming elections.
READ: Robredo's possible 2022 bid gets boost from lawyers
Former SC spokesperson Theodore Te as well as Dean Mel Sta. Maria of the Far Eastern University Institute of Law gave their message of support for Robredo’s possible candidacy.
According to Diokno, Robredo is the most qualified and the most ready to serve as the country’s next President.
“Nakita naman nating lahat kung paano siyang tumutulong sa mga Pilipino kahit limitado ang budget nila (We’ve all seen how she helps Filipino despite their limited budget); how she went above and beyond in serving, dahil wala namang ibang mandato ang vice president kundi (because the vice president has no other mandate except) constitutional succession,” he said.
The human rights lawyer was among the senatorial candidates who ran in the 2019 elections under the opposition’s Otso Diretso slate, backed by Robredo, but he lost.
Diokno also thanked his fellow lawyers who have formed Lawyers for Leni as part of their support for Robredo’s possible candidacy.
“Let’s make sure VP Leni has the support she needs, so the country can, in turn, have the leadership it needs,” he said.
The group is convinced that government will help restore the rule of law, which is vital in a democratic society like the Philippines, if Robredo leads it.
On Sunday, more groups launched their online campaigns urging Robredo to run for president. Among which were Cebu for Leni, Church Workers for Leni, Rizaleños for Leni Robredo, and Bohol for Leni.
READ: Robredo for President draft boosted by health workers, BPO employees, other sectors