We don't need another Cory

They are trying real hard to make Leni Robredo another Cory Aquino. And if you still don't get it, then so sorry for you, but you just might not know what hit you. They are putting words into her mouth as if quotable quotes can actually take the place of substance. To prep her up for the presidency, either now or at some later date, they are making her sound more able than she really is.

"Are you ready for me?" "I'm just getting started." "What are you afraid I might discover?” These headline-provoking statements were attributed to Robredo in rapid succession in the 19 days that she was, and quickly was no longer, the anti-illegal drug czar of the Philippines. She is by no means dumb. But do you really think she can really summon such verbal gems from the shallows in which she dwells?

Check your facts. From the time of the 2016 election campaign during which another quotable quote about being a man was attributed to her, to the present when she was appointed, then immediately fired, as co-chairman of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs, there had absolutely been no utterance of note from her to suggest she deserves to be trusted with the presidency.

Robredo should have known, right from the start, that she is just being used by her party for its own ends, and by her partymates who, while probably more experienced and able than she is, just did not have what it takes to win. Robredo, on the other hand, has, though just barely, as the 2016 vice presidential contest showed, the winning potential her party and partymates sorely lack, as the 2019 senatorial debacle proved.

I have always believed that the willingness to lead a country must be qualified not by the ability to win the presidency but by the ability to perform in accordance with the mighty and critical expectations demanded by such a lofty office. In fairness to Robredo, she did hesitate to accept outright the pressing offer by her party to run for vice president in 2016.

Eventually, though, she caved in to the pressure. I am pretty sure she was told not to worry, that after all it was just the vice presidency. But just the vice presidency? The vice presidency is the presidency-in-waiting! Only the right moment differentiates the two. Otherwise, they are the same. And Robredo just isn't cut to be president. Unless, of course, we want history to repeat itself and have another Cory.

But what truly pains and disappoints is the fact that Robredo must have realized herself that she does not have what it takes to be vice president or president at the time the pressure was mounted to make her accept for her party's sake. No one is a better judge of one's abilities than the person himself or herself. It is not even enough that one can learn along the way. One has to be ready at the get go.

Perhaps it is a revealing measure of Robredo's ability that she would never stop criticizing. After all, what else is there? Great leaders cooperate and when cooperation is untenable, they talk. Robredo can always call the president and do her tweaking in private. But for her to always criticize is the mark of a shallow and hollow politician, never of a leader. [email protected]