Robredo did not give orders to the military, Duterte told
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo merely coordinated with and did not give orders to the military for them to rescue residents affected by the flooding brought by Typhoon Ulysses (international name: Vamco).
"The claim that I have been giving orders to the military, that is wrong," Robredo told reporters in Ragay, Camarines Sur in Filipino on Wednesday, countering President Rodrigo Duterte's accusation.
Robredo said she was just passing distress calls to “whoever was on the ground,” including the military, the police and government officials.
“I think it’s my obligation and the obligation of anyone who receives calls for help to find help. For me, this is a time of disaster. We shouldn’t be closing our doors to anyone extending help. For me, this is the time for all of us to help each other,” she said partly in Filipino.
In his remarks, Duterte said that all Robredo did was to call up military units.
"Iyon bang ano mga helicopter natin na-deploy? Iyong ating mga ano nandoon na? Yes, yes, yes ‘yan puro. Then you make it appear na gumalaw ang Armed Forces. Kaya kita mo ininsulto ka ng dalawang generals. The one is I think a Marine officer and the other one is an Army. General [Luga?], yeah. Kita mo ininsulto ka. You are not part of the command," he said.
('Were the helicopters deployed?' 'Are our ano there already? They will say 'yes'. Then you make it appear that the Armed Forces deployed. Now, look, you are baing insulted by two generals. "The one is I think a Marine officer and the other one is an Army. General [Luga?], yeah. See? They are insulting you. You are not part of the command)
In the same speech, Duterte stressed that the military would not follow Robredo's orders.
"Alam mo ‘yung mga military hindi ‘yan maniwala sa iyo because tama sila you are not in the line of authority basta ganun. Wala kang… Times of emergency, ako lang pati ang military. It’s between me and military pagka pulis. Iyan lang sila kami mag-ano."
(You know, the military will not believe you because they are right, you are not in the line of authority. You don't have... times of emegency, it's just me and the military. It's between me and military...if the police... That is... it's just us who will...)
Out of order?
Malacañang stood by Duterte’s remarks during a televised address late Tuesday night, saying that Robredo “made it appear” that she was the one calling out uniformed personnel to give aid to victims of the floods.
“Her Twitter posts making it appear that she was the one calling the shots at the time of the typhoon was completely out of order … It was completely out of order that she misinformed the people, the nation as if she was the one who was in charge of relief efforts. She was not,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque told CNN Philippines’ “The Source.”
Robredo did not make any such claim and her office last week said that they had been facilitating requests for rescue and assistance.
"For this, the OVP is in coordination with government agencies conducting rescue operations, to whom these requests are referred. We are also working with private partners to provide much needed assets, like trucks and boats, to affected areas," it said then.
The vice president took a verbal beating from Duterte on Tuesday night, who attacked the vice president in a 20-minute rant before going into discussions on vaccine acquisition.
Duterte falsely accused Robredo of starting the hashtag #NasaanAngPangulo, which trended while Luzon was being battered by Ulysses.
The hashtag has been around since the time of former President Benigno Aquino III.
Robredo responded by suggesting that some people may be feeding Duterte with false information.
“The succeeding events show that the peddlers of fake news surround the president himself. And I think that’s a big offense to the president,” she said in Filipino. — Xave Gregorio
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