Vice Pres. Sara Duterte Asked If She’s Ready for Alliance w/ Former VP Leni Robredo
SARA DUTERTE – The Vice President admitted that she is not ready for political alliances as she revealed her focus now.
Undeniably, the visit of Vice Pres. Duterte to former Vice Pres. Leni Robredo in the latter’s house in Naga is a surprise to a lot of people. It sparked several speculations including the possibility of building an alliance for a future election.
However, the Office of the Vice President (OVP) was quick to explain the revelation of Robredo’s spokesperson, Barry Gutierrez, that Duterte visited her predecessor at her home in Naga. According to Gutierrez, they were only informed about the visit when the Vice President was already on her way.
The spokesperson of former Vice Pres. Leni Robredo said that the talk which was personal and nothing political lasted for an hour. According to the OVP, Duterte was invited to Naga in relation to the celebration of the Peñafrancia Festival.
Aside from the Vice President, Senator Bong Revilla and interior secretary Benhur Abalos also visited former Vice Pres. Leni Robredo in Naga. The late husband of the former Vice President, Jesse Robredo, was the sitting secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) when he died in a plane crash in 2012.
Jesse Robredo has served as mayor of Naga prior to his appointment as the interior secretary. Thus, according to former Vice Pres. Robredo, she is used to people coming to their house during Peñafrancia Festival.
On the recent visit of Duterte, Abalos, and Revilla at her house in Naga, Robredo stressed that there are no political colors during Peñafrancia Festival and everyone who visits “Ina” is welcome to their house.
Following their meeting in Naga, recently, in a press conference, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte was asked if she is open to building an alliance with former Vice Pres. Leni Robredo. Based on a video posted by ABS-CBN News, Duterte did not specifically gave an answer on the possible tandem with Robredo but she expressed her current stand on political alliance.
Based on the video, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte admitted that she is not ready to form a political alliance with anyone. According to her, her focus now is on fixing and protecting the Office of the Vice President.
“Right now hindi ako handa na sumama kahit kanino man because kailangan ko munang ayusin at ipagtanggol ang Office of the Vice President,” the Vice President said.
The statement of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte came amid her office being set to be given a budget of P733 million for 2025 by the House of Representatives. The amount is less more than half of the budget that the OVP requested.