It appears that the question of whether or not opposition standard-bearer Vice President Leni Robredo should concede defeat in the Palace race doesn't matter much to the camp of presumptive president Bongbong Marcos.
According to Marcos's spokesperson and chief-of-staff, lawyer Vic Rodriguez, concession is something that can't be forced out of someone.
"Alam mo yung pagko-concede hindi ini-impose yan, hindi hinihigi yan. Yan ay kusang ibinibigay nung taong gustong mag-concede (You know, concession is neither imposed nor requested. It is voluntarily given by the person who wants to concede)," he said during an interview Thursday, May 12 on ANC Headstart.
"So whether she concedes or not, the numbers are there, we're looking at the same transparency servers and it's 31million Filipinos more or less," Rodriguez said, referring to the Filipinos who voted for the former senator and Ilocos Norte governor.
Marcos's lead over Robredo is around 16 million votes.
But is the Marcos camp willing to engage Robredo, who has made no bones about her dislike for the UniTeam bet, in a dialogue?
"Willing kaming kausapin at makipag-usap sa lahat ng tao (We're willing to speak to and speak with everyone) egardless of their political color, race or belief," Rodriguez said, adding that Marcos has told his people to "look beyond politics".
"Ang importante may respeto sa Saligang Batas. Kinikilala yung ating mga tao at hindi nananawagan ng pagpapabagsak ng gobyerno, maaaring ikunsidera at ituloy natin yung ating panawagan ng pagkakaisa (What's important is they have respect for the Constitution. As long as they recognize our people and don't call for the toppling of government, they an be considered and let's continue the call for unity)," he further said.