MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo and the opposition Liberal Party, which she chairs, on Sunday once again denied that they are plotting an ouster move against President Rodrigo Duterte.
In a statement, Robredo said the LP is not working nor in alliance with the group of Sen. Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV and the Communist Party of the Philippines to topple the current administration.
“[W]ala kaming koneksyon sa Communist Party of the Philiippines, ni nag-usap, wala man lang kahit anong klaseng pag-uusap. Alam naman natin iyong parang role ng Communist Party of the Philippines dito... sa lipunan, sila nag-e-exist sila indepedently of any political party. Maraming paniniwala na hindi pareho, (We don’t have a connection with the Communist Party of the Philippines, even any communication or negotiation. We know the role of the Communist Party of the Philippines here, in our society, they exist independently of any political party. They have several beliefs that are not similar with us),” Robredo said in Filipino on Sunday during her weekly radio show, BISErbisyong LENI, on RMN-DZXL 558.
Robredo was reacting to Duterte’s claims that the three groups are planning to destabilize his administration.
READ: Duterte warns of move to oust him by October
Duterte’s claims came after LP showed support to Trillanes following the president’s decision to declare the senator’s amnesty, granted by the previous administration, void.
Robredo lamented how the Duterte administration always targeted the LP as its “whipping boy” and always being used as an excuse “to deflect the blame for its incompetencies.”
“Eh ‘di ba alam naman nila na halos wala nang natira sa partido? Lahat na lumipat sa kanila eh. Kaya kapag sinabi nilang Liberal Party, sino iyong tinutukoy? Kasi ngayon, iyong Liberal Party mabibilang mo na lang sa kamay mo ‘di ba. (Don’t they know that we’re only a few in the party now? Everyone already transferred to them. So if they say Liberal Party, who are they referring to? Because right now, you can only count the members of Liberal Party by hand),” Robredo said.
“[K]apag pinag-usapan iyong Liberal Party—parang ano din ito, parang pagsisisi din kay Trump sa ekonomiya. Lahat na pagkukulang ng pamahalaan, isisisi sa Liberal Party. Tingin natin hindi naman tama iyon (If we talk about Liberal Party—it’s like blaming Trump for the economy. All that the government is lacking they blame to the Liberal party. We should see that that’s not right,)” she added.
LP President Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan echoed the party chair’s comment and said the destabilization is the government’s own doing and not the opposition’s.
“The opposition does not have to do anything. On its own, either by its incompetence or corruption, the government is doing a good job of destabilizing itself,” he said.
Pangilinan said that all that Malacañang has to do is listen to its own allies who, like the opposition, are calling for the resignation of Department of Agriculture and National Food Authority officials for causing the rice crisis.
He said Budget Secretary Ben Diokno, Reps. Joey Salceda (2nd District, Albay) Karlo Nograles (1st District, Davao City), Sen. Cynthia Villar and House minority leader Danny Suarez as among the officials allied to the president who were calling for the resignation of those responsible for the rice crisis and economic woes.
“Are they destabilizers too?” Pangilinan asked.
“If the president doesn’t want to listen to the opposition, that’s fine but his own allies are sounding the alarm bells. Malacañang should heed the clamor of its own allies and act decisively to solve the rice crisis,” he said.
Pangilinan stressed that “the accusation of destabilization is downright false.”
“It is ridiculous. Dissent is not destabilization. Every time scandals and controversies hound this administration, whether it be corruption issues or issues of incompetent governance, it blames the opposition,” Pangilinan said.
“For everyone’s sake, instead of throwing baseless accusations at LP and the opposition, the government should listen to the cry of the people and focus on rising prices of goods and lack of jobs that would sufficiently provide for the average Filipino family,” he added. — Rosette Adel