No problem with Constitution, Marcos team if Robredo puts up NGO
MANILA, Philippines — The team of Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., presumptive president-elect, sees no problem with Vice President Leni Robredo's plan to launch a non-governmental organization when her term of office ends as laws and the Constitution allow her to.
Robredo over the weekend announced the plan to organize an Angat Buhay NGO to continue providing assistance and services to Filipinos after she steps down from office on June 30. NGOs do not, as some social media users asserted, mean "New Government Organization."
"Do you right, exercise your right under the Constitution and other prevailing laws within bounds of law, respect the laws, respect the Constitution and we will be okay," Vic Rodriguez, Marcos’ spokesperson, told ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo on Monday.
And, it is okay, according to the 1987 Constitution, Article II Section 23:
The State shall encourage non-government, community-based, or sectoral organizations that promote the welfare of the nation.”
The Bill of Rights, Section 8, also holds:
The right of the people, including those employed in public and private sectors, to form unions, associations, or societies for purposes not contrary to the law shall not be abridged.
Rodriguez continued: "For as long as you are exercising your rights within the bounds of the law, I think, any democratic government and leadership will respect that."
Attacks online
Robredo announced the launch of her NGO that seeks to continue the anti-poverty programs she spearheaded while in office at her thanksgiving rally on May 13.
"We need to start accepting that the results of this election were not in line with our dreams," Robredo said in Filipino. "This way, we would be able to start focusing ourselves on the future."
The future, she bared, is that she and organizers of the campaign at the local level will launch an Angat Buhay non-government entity to assist those in the margins behind what she called would be the "widest volunteer network" in the country's history.
But shortly after the announcement, Robredo and her team—who had long parried disinformation attacks—were again maligned online as social media users claimed NGO means "new government organization" that aims to replace the legal government.
That is not true.
Social enterprise DevEx, citing a report from the World Association on Non-Government Organizations, said the Philippines is deemed to have "one of the most vibrant NGO communities in the world," with tens of thousands aid groups listed.
During the campaign season, Robredo and her supporters were red-tagged, or baselessly linked to the communist rebel movement despite their repeated denials.
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