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| Vice President Leni Robredo and former President Diosdado Macapagal / photo file from OVP and Google |
Vice President Leni Robredo stressed that there is no
politics involved in her frequent visits to far provinces after Senate Minority
Leader Franklin Drilon likened her to former Vice President Diosdado Macapagal who
later became the ninth leader of the nation.
During the Senate Finance Committee hearing on the Office of
the Vice President's proposed budget for 2020, Drilon said Robredo’s current
situation reminded him of Macapagal’s life.
Drilon noted that Like Robredo, Macapagal also did not hold ‘any
position’ during his time as vice president of former President Carlos Garcia.
“President Carlos Garcia did not give Diosdado Macapagal any
work and therefore what Diosdado Macapagal did for the six or four years that
he was in office was to go around the country, helping the needy. ” the
senator explained
“Consequently, Macapagal won the presidency. Whether or not
there is a parallel to that, I’m just stating facts” he added
Robredo, on the other hand, downplayed the similarity,
noting that she’s not doing her job because she wants to become president.
“Siguro similar kami [ni Macapagal] in the sense na pareho
kaming walang Cabinet post. Pero yung kaibahan yung mga areas kung saan ako
nagpupunta sobrang lalayo, mahirap puntahan, at konti ang tao,” Robredo told
reporters after the hearing.
“So kung pulitika ang iisipin ko dapat wala ako dun, dapat
‘yung mga programa namin nandun lang sa heavily populated areas kasi dun ako
makakakuha ng boto. Sa tingin ko, makakasama sa programs namin na isipin ko na
ang 2022 kasi kung iisipin ko ang 2022 hindi na ako pupunta sa mga areas na malayo
tapos hindi heavily populated areas,” she added.
When asked if she would consider following the path of Macapagal
to presidency, Robredo said she’s not planning to run for a higher position in
2022 as she also doesn’t want to get distracted on carrying out her anti-poverty
projects.
“Mahirap na planuhin siya kasi kapag pinlano siya, parang
iyong lahat na ginagawa ko, ang iniisip ko na iyong saan ba ako makakakuha ng
maraming boto… Kontra siya sa mga ginagawa namin kasi talagang iyong mga
pinupuntahan namin na mga lugar, hindi siya vote-rich,” she said.
The Office of the Vice President's proposed P673 million
budget for 2020 also got approved.
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