Manila Mayor Isko Moreno might be having an “emotional meltdown” as he continues to attack Vice President Leni Robredo after realizing that his dream of becoming the country’s next president seems to be slipping away from him, former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said on Sunday, April 24.

Calling Moreno a “Marcos loyalist,” the former Navy officer and senatorial candidate questioned the logic behind the mayor’s criticisms of “number two.”

The Vice President is a constant runner-up to survey frontrunner former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in presidential preference surveys while Moreno is a perennial third placer.

“Ang bibirahin itong number 2 dito sa kanilang presscon at pinagwi-withdraw pa, di ba. So palagay ko dito ay nakita kong wala na, nagkakaroon ng emotional meltdown itong si Mayor Isko at wala na (He will attack number 2 in their presscon and asking her to withdraw, right. So, I think here I saw that Mayor Isko seems to be having an emotional meltdown and he’s done),” he said on Robredo’s radio show over dzXL.

Robredo had stopped attending her weekly radio show since the start of the campaign season last Feb. 8.

“Parang nakita niya kasing naglalaho iyong kanyang mga pangarap na akala niya noong una, eh ano siya, talagang nakadestino na siyang maging presidente ng Pilipinas (It’s like he saw that his dreams have collapsed that he thought at first that he was destined to become president of the Philippines),” Trillanes added.

READ: Criticisms from #WithdrawLeni call an example of ‘social injustice’ — Mayor Isko

The former senator, who is again gunning for a seat in the Magic 12 under Robredo’s ticket, hinted that Moreno might be involved in some kind of "arrangement."

“Iyon nga po ang nakakapagtaka dito. Hindi natin alam baka iyong mga areglong nangyayari na diyan at maliwanag namin kasi mula’t sapol na itong si Mayor Isko ay Marcos loyalist daw siya eh, di ba (That’s what curious about this. We don’t know there might be arrangements happening there and it is clear that from the start, Mayor Isko said he was a Marcos loyalist, right)?,” Trillanes said.

All throughout the campaign, it was noted that the Manila mayor did not speak negatively against Marcos, except for a short period when his camp raised the P203-billion estate tax debt of the family of the former dictator, the former senator argued.

“Pero after nung umatras na uli tapos nag-presscon na (But after that, he backed down and held a presscon),” he added.

Trillanes was referring to the Easter Sunday press conference wherein Moreno asked Robredo to withdraw from the presidential race.

READ: Mayor Isko asks VP Leni to withdraw from presidential race and instead — 'come and join us'

In the week since, he called the Vice President names, referring to her as a “bully” and “matapobre (someone who looks down on poor people).” He also questioned her character, attacked her supporters, and said she’s full of herself.

Robredo said she won’t respond to Moreno’s accusations because the elections is not about the candidates, but about the country.