Robredo lawyer: Duterte not in position to call VP ‘incompetent’

The legal counsel of Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo said President Rodrigo Duterte was not in a position to call his client ‘incompetent’ and incapable of leading the Philippines.

“Inflation: 5.2%. Bigas (Rice): P42/kilo. $1 = P53.51. Dagdag sa pambansang utang (Additions to the national debt): P1.19T. Sariling karagatan: bawal sa Pinoy (Our own waters: prohibited from Filipinos). Trapik: palala pa (Traffic: getting worse). Patayan, tila araw-araw na lang (Killings, an everyday occurrence),” lawyer Barry Gutierrez said in a Twitter post on Tuesday, July 10.

“Incompetent? Nagsalita ang magaling (Look who is talking),” he added.

Gutierrez was responding to Duterte’s previous remarks in which the latter said he would not step down because Robredo will be the next president of the country.

“My resignation is addressed to the people para makapili sila ng gusto nila (for them to choose who they want),” Duterte said in an interview with reporters in Clark, Pampanga.

“Siya (Her) [Robredo], I don’t think she can ever be ready to govern a country. Reason? Incompetence. She’s not capable of running a country like this, Philippines,” he continued.

Robredo, who was the former chairperson of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), earlier announced that she is willing to lead the opposition against the Chief Executive and his administration.

“Maraming mga grupo na pareho naman ‘yun paniniwala at mga issues na gustong salungatin pero dahil hindi nag-usap-usap, hindi napag-iisa ‘yun boses (Several groups have the same beliefs and issues that they want to oppose but since they are not talking to each other, the voices are not united as one),” Robredo said.

“At iyon iyong role na gusto kong i-take. Siguraduhin na iyong mga boses na nagkakaisa ay lalong mapag-isa para lalong mapakinggan, siguraduhin na iyong mensaheng gustong ipaabot mas maintindihan, at hikayatin iyong iba din iyong paniniwala na makiisa (And that is the role I want to take — to make sure that the voices would be even more united so they could be heard, to ensure that the message they want to convey would be better understood, and to encourage others with a different belief to join),” she added.

For its part, the Palace said the Vice President’s decision was “hardly surprising” as it believes that an active opposition will play a vital role in a healthy and well-functioning democracy.