Sara-Leni word war heats up

DAVAO CITY – Vice President Leni Robredo might as well kiss her dreams of becoming president in 2022 goodbye, said presidential daughter and Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio as the two women renewed their exchange of tirades.

Carpio said that Robredo should avoid commenting about honesty and integrity since her honesty has been questioned since day one of her term as Vice President.

“And if she insists on saying that you have to be honest to run for public office, then she must say goodbye to her dreams of becoming president,” Carpio said in a statement yesterday.

She stressed that the reason why good moral character is not a requirement to run for vice president is because we have so many Leni Robredos in this world. 

“She (Robredo) is not called a fake VP for no reason. She has tried to copy her late husband but has failed at every turn,” the mayor said. 

Besides, the presidential daughter said that Robredo is facing an electoral protest for massive fraud during the 2016 elections. 

Carpio likewise pointed out that the Vice President has refused to answer allegations of her relationship with a married man. 

“She may or may not get away with these but we all know she is not forthcoming in everything,” the presidential daughter added.

Robredo earleir tweeted that the mayor’s remark on honesty – made in defense of her senatorial candidate Imee Marcos – was an “insult to the electorate” since the Ilocos Norte governor has been questioned overclaims about her academic degrees that concerned educational institutions – Princeton University and the University of the Philippines College of Law – said were reportedly false.

Robredo likewise said that honesty is a big factor to a person’s integrity. 

“If you don’t have that, you shouldn’t think of serving because how will you serve if you have a problem with yourself? I think it’s surprising that whether or not you need to be honest should be an issue because it is a given. It’s sad that we need to debate about the importance of being honest. It shouldn’t be up for debate because it’s an important ingredient even before you aspire to go into public service,” Robredo said.

Robredo’s spokesman Barry Gutierrez said Carpio’s statement only proves that she does not see honesty as a necessity for public service.

“You criticize, but you use fake news. How many times have these been proven to be fake news. Please read real news when you have time,” Gutierrez said in Filipino.

Allegations of electoral fraud have yet to be proven as the election protest filed by former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. against Robredo remains pending before the presidential electoral tribunal.

The Vice President has also addressed and denied allegations of having relationships following the death of her husband, former interior secretary Jesse Robredo.

Robredo earlier stressed that honesty is an election issue, countering a previous statement by the presidential daughter.

“I do not agree with that. I think every Filipino does not agree that it is OK to lie,” she said in Filipino in an interview in Cagayan on Thursday.

“Campaigning is a way for us to get to know the candidates. This is a way to help people decide who to vote for. If its premise is a lie, then it would appear that we are dishonest to the voters,” she added.

Robredo said it would be an insult to the people once lying is normalized by those running for public office.

“The people base their choices on the information given to them. If that information is dishonest, then that is unfair to the voters,” she added.

Robredo flew to Hong Kong on Friday night to attend a special event for Istorya ng Pag-asa, a project by her office that promotes stories of perseverance and resilience of Filipino workers.

The Vice President will also interview overseas Filipino workers for her weekly radio show on Sunday and meet with potential partners for Angat Buhay, the flagship development program of her office.

Robredo will return to Manila on Sunday, her office said.

Carpio also called the senatorial bets of the opposition alliance Otso Diretso cowards for turning down her challenge to a debate between her alone and the eight opposition candidates.

This after the Commission on Elections thumbed down the other day the request of the Otso Diretso for a debate with the Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) senatorial bets.

Carpio is the chairman and the campaign manager of HNP, which has been going on provincial sorties since last month to push for the group’s senatorial candidates who are also President Duterte’s bets.

The presidential daughter instead challenged the Otso Diretso candidates to debate with her just to satisfy their wish for a debate with the HNP senatorial candidates.

“Tayo na lang magdebate, 1 vs. 8,” she said, adding that she could face all of them alone in any debate.

The Otso Diretso candidates, on the other hand, refused to debate with the presidential daughter, pointing out that the mayor is not a candidate for the 2019 senatorial elections. – With Janvic Mateo