Robredo to finish term in 'high spirits'
Vice President Leni Robredo will finish her last 30 days in office in “high spirits” and with a “renewed sense of energy” after accepting the results of the recently concluded 2022 elections, her spokesman said on Tuesday, May 31.
Robredo arrived in the country over the weekend after spending two weeks in the United States to attend her youngest daughter Jillian’s graduation at the New York University and for a long-overdue vacation with her three children.
“She’s good! I think that the—well, to begin with, even before the election results came in, I think she was already in a good place. She was at peace. She was ready to accept whatever outcome would happen,” Robredo’s spokesman Barry Gutierrez said, adding that Jillian’s graduation “was a much-needed recharge for her.”
“So I guess, she had the opportunity to recharge and she seems recharged and ready to finish out the last 30 days of her term in high spirits and with a renewed sense of energy,” he stated on ANC’s Headstart.
READ: Back in Manila, Robredo ‘energized’ and ‘ready to work’
Robredo is expected to turn over her office to Vice President-elect Sara Duterte-Carpio at noon on June 30, even though she hasn’t delivered a concession speech to President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Gutierrez noted that the Vice President already asked her supporters to “respect the will of the people.”
“Well, I don’t know. We have 30 days left. She will have several public addresses left to give so it will be really her decision...So, we’ll see. I think that’s something that can definitely still happen. But it will be up to her,” he added.
“We waited for six years and on our end, that was never given to us in the aftermath of the 2016 elections. But as you’ve said, it’s a matter of being gracious and the Vice President is someone who’s always been very gracious in all her interactions with people she has met through her office,” Gutierrez said.
She earlier announced the creation of an Angat Buhay NGO (non-government organization) starting July 1 during a thanksgiving rally with her supporters after the May 9 elections.
Gutierrez said it is not yet clear to them if the outgoing Vice President is going to stay in Manila or go home to her province of Bicol as she starts the said NGO, which is expected to be the “one of the biggest volunteer-driven initiatives we will be seeing in our country.”
“So, definitely, moving forward, it is possible that some new movement, bigger than any individual party, will emerge,” the spokesman added.
Under Robredo’s leadership, Angat Buhay has been the OVP’s flagship poverty alleviation program, partnering with private companies and organizations to provide millions worth of livelihood projects to Filipinos.
READ: Robredo says Angat Buhay is her ‘best legacy’
The NGO will be Robredo's priority concern since Gutierrez is not yet sure if she will remain to be a Liberal Party member.
She currently holds the chairmanship of the Party, but she would be deemed resigned after her term as Vice President ends.
“As to what LP is going to do, well, that’s something that should probably be asked to who will be the leader of the Liberal Party after June 30,” Gutierrez said.
As for him, the lawyer shared that he hasn’t talked with Robredo yet if she would need him “for anything.”
“And my plans will be dependent on the outcome of that conversation. But right now, I’m just, you know, riding out the last 30 days of her term and then we’ll see,” he said.
“As I’ve said, this has been a very unique and rewarding seven months. We saw something that I have personally not yet seen ever in the history of Philippine politics and I look forward to seeing where it will go next.”