Vice President Leni Robredo said she and her running mate, Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan intend to finish the job as far as their candidacies in the May 2022 polls is concerned.
Robredo, attending a press conference Friday, Nov. 5 in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, was asked whether or not a substitution between her and Pangilinan was still possible.
"Sa amin po, siguradong wala. Sa amin siguradong wala. Noong nag-file kami desidido kaming tapusin ito (From us, surely there won't be any. There won't be any. We were bent on finishing this when we filed for our candidacies)," said the opposition's standard-bearer.
There have been calls from social media for a Robredo tandem with Senator Manny Pacquiao, with the latter taking Pangilinan's place as vice presidential bet. According to pundits, this would give the lady official a better shot at winning the presidency next year, owing to Pacquiao's support from his home region of Mindanao.
Robredo and Pangilinan are the chairman and president, respectively, of the once-ruling Liberal Party (LP).
Poll candidates can still withdraw and get substituted by another another candidate up to Nov. 15, 2021.
In this regard, Robredo couldn't help but reiterate her disapproval over how the provision on substitution has been abused.
"Hindi dapat ito ginagamit para maglalagay ka ng placeholder, para pagdating hihintayin mo hanggang sa pinakahulihan na allowed pa iyong substitution, saka ka papasok. Para sa akin, mockery ito ng ating election laws (This shouldn't be used to put a placeholder candidate whose place you would take at the very end of the substitution deadline. For me, this is a mockery of election laws)," said the lawyer-politician.
She said the substitution rule should be used in very specific situations, that is, in case of death of the candidate, disability or a severe event that would prevent him or her from continuing the candidacy.
"Dapat balikan na iyong pag-review nito. Na dapat hindi na siya ina-allow na nagagamit iyong provisions on the election laws para gamitin siya to satisfy political ends. Dapat ang substitution klaro na nangyayari lang siya for very, very extraordinary circumstances (This should be reviewed. The provisions on the election laws shouldn't be used to justify poltical ends. It should be clear that substitution may only happen under very, very extraordinary circumstances," she said.