Running for VP not an option – Leni

MANILA, Philippines - Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo said yesterday that running for vice president is still not an option for her despite the launch by some groups of a movement to get her to seek the second highest elective post.

“It was not in my horizon for the past three years. It’s out of this world,” she said in an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel.

She said she would only be forced to run for vice president if the ruling Liberal Party, to which she belongs, is unable to convince other aspirants to team up with its standard bearer, former local government secretary Mar Roxas.

Robredo reiterated that she thinks presidential survey frontrunner Sen. Grace Poe does not deserve to run for the highest office.

“For me, it’s not a legal issue. It’s an issue of loyalty. If she had once renounced her (Philippine) citizenship and turned her back on her country and its people, she doesn’t deserve it,” she said.

Poe gave up her being a Filipino on Oct. 18, 2001 when she swore allegiance to the United States and became an American citizen.

Nine years later, on Oct. 20, 2010, a day before taking her oath of office as head of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, she executed an affidavit renouncing her US citizenship.

With the vice presidency out of the picture, Robredo said she is deciding whether to seek a Senate seat or run for a second term in her district.

She said there are several hurdles that she has to overcome in deciding to run for the Senate.

“I have a low awareness rating and I don’t have the needed resources. Besides, the senatorial race in 2016 will be tight,” she said.

She added that another hurdle is that she’s still learning the ropes as a politician.

“I’m having difficulty dealing even with officials in my district and province because I am a person who sticks to black and white. I don’t know how long I would last in politics,” she stressed.

She pointed out that being a single mother, taking care of her three children is her top priority.