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Leni Robredo is in a unique position among all presidential candidates. She is not just a candidate. She is the incumbent vice president.

The Constitution provides that if the president dies, resigns or is removed from office, the vice president takes over the presidency and its duties.

If any of these scenarios happen before the elections, Robredo will be the president as provided by the Constitution.

If any of these scenarios happen before the elections, a President Robredo would also immediately change the campaign and the elections. Most probably, she will shoot up in the presidential surveys and the entire machinery of government would be at her and her team’s disposal.

Aside from the internal politicking and deal-making within the pro-administration forces, this could be one factor why President Duterte withdrew from the senatorial race and did not run for vice president. The demanding campaign schedules may seriously threaten his health and very life, and thus make a Robredo presidency highly-possible.

Supporters of Robredo should thus understand the high interest of many people in Robredo’s plan, programs and platforms. She is not just a candidate for president. She could be president ahead of the elections. Citizens are justified in their curiosity about exactly how different her leadership would be, and she has the obligation as the professed candidate for change to articulate the change she promises to citizens.

Take for example the issue of jobs, contractualization and the economy. Duterte is implementing a pro-big business approach that guarantees profits for them at the expense of workers. For workers, this means low-quality jobs with no security of tenure, contractualization, and more than a hundred minimum wage levels for the country. Duterte is also pursuing neoliberal economics bannered by programs of denationalization, deregulation, liberalization and privatization. Rice tarrification and massive vegetable importation are devastating programs in this regard. How would a Robredo presidency be different?

Another controversial area that a President Robredo has to face is national security. Under Duterte, the top national security concern is the Communist Party of the Philippines, with the NTF-ELCAC as the president’s main task force handling it. The enemy are the communists and the so-called communist fronts. Duterte cancelled the formal peace negotiations, and instead ordered a war on the Reds. Tens of billions of precious public funds have been appropriated for this effort, which according to Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Karapatan has been marked by aerial bombardment, extrajudicial killings, red-tagging, and human rights violations. Would a President Robredo signal a change in point-of-view, direction and outlook? Or would a President Robredo declare Chinese incursions into Philippine territory the true top national security threat for the country?

Although he promised to voters radical systematic change even to the point of claiming he could be the country’s first socialist leader, President Duterte relied heavily on traditional politicians and retired military officials in managing the country, enacting programs and addressing the coronavirus pandemic. A stark example: Civilian public health experts play second or third fiddle to the retired military officials who are on top of the IATF and its many committees. What kind of change is coming under a Robredo presidency in terms of dealing with traditional politicians and retired military officials? Would she continue to rely on them?

There are many eager Robredo supporters who attempt to answer these and many other tough questions on her behalf. Worse, there are those who demonize those who pose the questions. The thing is, Robredo has that obligation and honor to respond to those questions from those who seek clarification and, more importantly, seek to find common ground with her. At a time of disinformation, obfuscation and double-talk, I’m quite sure we could all agree that we have to get clear answers. Where Duterte is unclear, Robredo can be clear.

To be fair, Bongbong Marcos is clear too. He seeks to restore his family to power, and to put “security” above all else. I think he means it, in the same way his own father and Duterte meant it. The forces of democracy thus have a duty to be clear and honest to the public about why democracy is better than tyranny. The differences must be told and shown, questions should be welcomed and answered, and debates on how to best deal with our most urgent problems be started.