Isko Moreno says willing to appoint Robredo to Cabinet if elected president
MANILA, Philippines — If elected president, Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno would be willing to appoint Vice President Leni Robredo — also running for president — to a Cabinet position, he said Thursday morning.
Moreno had previously hinted that he would be willing to appoint Sen. Panfilo Lacson — also running for president — to a Cabinet position. He also previously said, when President Rodrigo Duterte was hinting at running for president, that he would appoint Duterte to a Cabinet position as well.
"Why not? If she's willing...hypothetically," he told reporters in a chance interview in Cavite when asked if he was open to the idea.
"Wherever she's capable, whatever her abilities are, if she's willing...But I can assure you, I can work with anybody."
Moreno has not had the warmest relationship with the Vice President since opposition unity talks broke down earlier on.
"If it’s going to be talked about, then I will join. But if they’re just going to be talking about unification for one candidate, then they can just talk amongst themselves...The unification they’re talking about is only to benefit themselves as politicians," he said in mixed Filipino and English at the Jessica Soho Presidential Interviews earlier in January.
In a more recent interview aired over ANC, Moreno's political strategist Lito Banayo said that their team was "taken for a ride" when they accepted the invitation for unity talks.
READ: Presidential bets 'frustrated' over failed opposition unity talks but still open if invited
What if it's the other way around, and Robredo wins? Would the Aksyon Demokratiko standard-bearer accept an appointment to a Cabinet position?
"I'll be retired. I promised that to you...I think I have done my share, and the people [will have chosen] their leader," he said.
WATCH: Presidential bet Isko Moreno said he is eyeing to give a Cabinet position to Vice President Leni Robredo if he wins in the May elections. pic.twitter.com/XazTS7JzHy
— Philstar.com (@PhilstarNews) February 24, 2022
Moreno says will hold accountable 'those who committed crimes' vs Filipinos pre-EDSA Revolution
As he expressed openness to the de-facto leader of the opposition, Moreno also took on a stronger stance against the Marcos family without referring to them by name.
That same day, the Manila City chief said that those who committed abuses and crimes against the Filipino people before the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution should be made accountable for their misdeeds before the bar of justice.
“While it is true that we want to live in the present, and come together, unite, work together to build back better for the future of our children, we will not shrug off those who abused and persecuted his people. If they have accusations or there are cases, we as a state must pursue those cases to give justice to the victims, whether it is abusing power, corruption, or maybe up to the point, those who killed people in the past,” Moreno said.
“In order for the souls of the victims to be at peace, those who should be held accountable under the law must be held accountable. But again, we will not forget, we will continue to remember, and we will always give value to the Filipino people. That’s why they call it the People Power."
READ: Isko strategist says Marcos' numbers going down due to media no-shows
Moreno issued this statement on the 36th anniversary of the EDSA Revolution that ousted Ferdinand Marcos, the father and namesake of fellow presidential aspirant Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Before this, he had often taken the position that the Filipino people should move on from history but also learn from it. He has also framed himself as an alternative candidate in between the conflict between the Marcoses and the Aquinos.
"I want to move on. We will hold people liable. Whoever has done evil, all who have faults should be made to answer for it. But we must move forward for a better future... what matters most to me today is how to get through this pandemic," he said at the Jessica Soho Presidential Interviews.
He did not identify who he was referring to or specify what wrongs of their merited addressing.
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