Vice President Leni Robredo has more important things to worry about than threats made by President Duterte on late night television.
Robredo, who filed her certificate of candidacy (COC) for president on Thursday, was asked in a press conference Friday, Oct. 8 on what she thought about the statement made by Duterte last year that he would "destroy" her if she vies for the presidency in May 2022.
Specifically, Duterte said in his late night "Talk to the People" public briefing on Nov. 17, 2020 that he would be Robredo’s "nightmare" should she run for the country’s highest post.
"Hindi ko na iyon problema (That's not my problem anymore)," the unfazed lady official said to a loud cheer from her supporters.
"Hindi ko na iyon problema kasi maraming...mas marami namang importanteng bagay na kailangang tutukan. Ako, suggestion ko, pandemic na lang tutukan kasi iyon naman iyong pinakaproblema natin (That's not my problem anymore because...because there are a lot of important things that must be addressed. For me, I suggest that we just focus on the pandemic since that is our main problem)," Robredo said in a rather savage remark.
The Vice President has been a consistent critic of how the Duterte administration has handled the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Her common criticism is that nobody seem to be acting as "captain of the ship".
In November last year, Robredo criticized the Chief Executive for supposedly being absent during the onslaught of typhoon "Ulysses".
That's why, in that particular episode of Talk to the People, Duterte sounded fed up over Robredo's comments and said, “Next time, do not make a mistake or I’ll be forced to insult you because you are playing too much."
“During the campaign, papaalis na ako. Sige subukan mo. Matagal na ako maraming gusto sabihin sayo. Ireserba ko (I'm on my way out. I dare you. I've been wanting to say things about you for a long time. I'll reserve them). When you start your campaign pag magtakbo ka ng presidente, waswasan kita nang husto (and you run for president, I will thoroughly destroy you). This is your nightmare,” he said.
At any rate, Robredo told journalists that she doesn't feel worried about her chances in the May 2022 elections despite deciding to run for president at the eleventh hour.
"Naniniwala ako na hindi naman siya paunahan (It's not about who files first). In fact, all of my runs, sa akin (for me) all of my runs laging last-minute ako nag-decide (I decided on at the last minute). So hindi iyon, para sa akin, hindi siya mahalagang (So there, for me it's not an important) factor," she said.
Friday was the last day of COC filing for the May 2022 poll aspirants.