Robredo denies impeachment plans against Duterte
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Vice presidential race frontrunner Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo on Tuesday (May 10) denied there were plans to impeach Rodrigo Duterte once he assumes office as president.
Robredo flatly denied rumors of a grand scheme by the Liberal Party (LP), or a so-called “Plan B,” to oust Duterte once he takes over as president.
“Wala po itong katotohanan,” she told reporters at a press conference.
[Translation: There’s no truth to that.]
Robredo said the Davao City mayor, who is leading the partial unofficial count of the presidential race, will have her full support even if he wins over LP standard bearer Manuel “Mar” Roxas.
“The amount of support that I was willing to give to Secretary Mar will be the same kind and will be the same amount of support that I should give to whoever wins the presidency,” said Robredo. “Now it is apparent that our people have chosen already. It is Mayor Duterte who will be our next president.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Roxas announced he was conceding the election to Duterte, saying the tough-talking mayor clearly was winning the polls in the unofficial count.
Robredo also said she never said she would resign if Duterte wins. ”Wala po ako sinabing ganyan.” [I never said anything like that.]
Robredo was able to overtake Sen. Ferdinand Marcos in the partial, unofficial count of votes in the vice presidential race early Tuesday. But with a narrow gap between them, Robredo said she wouldn’t claim immediate victory.
“Ngayon pong hindi pa tapos ang bilangan, hindi po tayo na magsasabi na tayo ay nanalo na, nandadaya ang iba, o natalo ang iba,” Robredo said. “Sana po huminhaon tayo at hintayin natin ang official count ng Comelec. At kahit ano po ang lumabas na resulta ay sana respetuhin natin lahat.”
[Translation: Now that the canvassing is not over yet, we will not say that we already won, or that others are cheating or were cheated. I urge everyone to calm down and wait for the official count of Comelec. And whatever the results may be, let us all respect it.]
Marcos’ camp asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and PPCRV to terminate the unofficial count, which is now based on results from about 91 percent of all precincts nationwide.
“In the past, the unofficial count was designed not to be completed to avoid the possibility of confusion and conflict with the official one. There is no reason for this not to be the norm this time around,” they said in a statement.
“Thus, although we are certain that if the unofficial count continues we will emerge victorious, we do not want the official canvass to be conducted by the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) pre-empted by the unofficial count.”
But Robredo disagrees, saying there have been partial unofficial counts in the past and such practice helps in guarding the election results.
“Ngayon po kasi automated na ang ating eleksyon. Napakahirap naman mandaya na wala ng human intervention ang eleksyon,” Robredo said. “Kung may allegation ng pandaraya, wala naman detalye kung paano tayo nandadaya. Sa akin po interesado ako, interesado akong malaman ang mga detalye kung paano nadadaya.”
[Translation: We now have automated elections. It is very difficult to cheat where you don’t have human intervention in an election. If there are allegations of cheating, there are no details to show how cheating is carried out. I am interested in knowing these details on how cheating is done.]
Robredo also said recent surveys showed she is statistically tied with Marcos — and the results of the elections have been faithful to polls.
