Full Text: Inq and A With Vice Presidential Candidate Leni Robredo

In preparation for the vice presidential debate held in Manila last April 10, INQUIRER.net organized a series of individual interviews with the candidates and fielded questions from social media and chat apps.

Camarines Sur Representative Leni Robredo, vice presidential bet of the ruling Liberal Party, was the second candidate to take the hot seat. Robredo was catapulted into politics after the death of her husband, the late Jesse Robredo, who was a close ally of President Benigno Aquino III.

Because of her husband's track record and clean image, Robredo was asked to run for Congress by the Liberal Party and her supporters. She won big against the Villafuerte clan, an old political dynasty in Camarines Sur.

Last year, she was again pressured to run for higher office, as runningmate of former interior secretary Mar Roxas.

In this interview with INQUIRER.net Editor in Chief John Nery, Chief of Reporters Kristine Sabillo and multimedia reporter Julliane de Jesus last April 7, Robredo talked about her own motivations to run and his plans if he wins vice president, with Binay or Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte as president. KS

FULL TRANSCRIPT:

John Nery: Good evening and welcome to our INQ and A with vice presidential candiate Leni Robredo. I'm John Nery and it is my happy task to serve as your moderator for the next hour. Welcome to our cozy little studio, Congresswoman.

Leni Robredo: Thank you. Thank you John. Thank you for having me.

JN: We are joined by Inquirer.net's Chief of Reporters, Tine Sabillo and our multimedia reporter covering the Roxas-Robredo campaign, Julliane De Jesus.

We are also live on Facebook on our Inquirer.net page, live on Youtube in our Inquirernews channel, and live of course on Inquirer.net itself, the country's leading news website. We are also present in the chat app space. We are live, we are on air online and we also have live updates on Viber, We Chat, Firechat and Kakao. We have live updates on Twitter, follow us at @inquirerdotnet and @team_inquirer. Last but not least, we are also covered by the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Inquirer Bandera.

Congresswoman, just a brief introduction about the format. It's very simple. We will have three rounds of questions. Each round may last maybe 18-19 minutes. Each round will begin with questions from the crowd, from our various audiences and probably this will take up the first 10 minutes of each round. After that, we will have our own follow up questions. We will move from the first round until the third. And maybe we can end with closing words from you. Let me start with a question from Twitter, from Kriel.fernandez, As the only female VP candidate, how can you prove that you are as tough, or even tougher than the males?

LR: I think my record as a lawyer for the poor and as a congresswoman would be able to prove it. It is easy to say I am tough but it's very difficult to just say it. But what I did in the past would show that I really fight for what I think is always right. I have stood my ground in many issues that have beset us even if some of these are not exactly in line with the administration's point of view and I'm very glad that my views have been respected.

Ano naman yun, it's a difficult, parang role to be in, to be the only female candidate, kasi there is actually a percentage of the constituency who'd always go for somebody they think would be tougher than the rest. And we have to prove ourselves parang we need to put in more effort to be able to prove that were tough enough for the job.

JN: Ma'am we will have opportunity to ask follow up questions about you being the only rose among the thorns but our next question is from social and that's from Tine.

Kristine Sabillo: Good evening Congresswoman, thank you for joining us tonight.

LR: Hi Tine.

KS: I have a question from Facebook. This is actually one of the questions that are often asked about those that are running for the vice presidency. This is from Ella Marie. It is not a secret that in most government set ups, people do not give much attention to the vice presidency, its actual function and its potential venue for significant national accomplishments. How will you revolutionize this important national post and not have it abused and turn into a venue to further political ambitions?

LR: Ako, I think, I have said this many times in the past, that if elected I intend to redefine the office. Kasi for a very long time, we have had a succession of vice presidents na talagang hindi nabigyan ng masyadong attention yung office. Either because hindi naman nabigyan ng mas maraming pagkakataon or talagang nag-ambisyon for a higher position.

Kaya sabi ko yung step one siguro sa akin is to convince myself and to convince people that I will never be lured to aiming for a higher post. Kasi once I have that ambition parang I wouldn't be able to maximize the office already because there is always a temptation to use it to further my political ambitions eh. Ano talaga to, I always look to the post. Syempre partner ka ng presidente, but you are not just there to be a problem solver but you're there to be an inspirational guide and para maging inspirational guide kelangan ma-inspire mo yung tao to think of themselves as part of government. Kasi, again, for a very long time, ang tingin ng tao yung gobyerno, yung public service lang eh. Ako, yung aking target sana, by being an inspirational guide, papaalala ko lang sa tao na you're also part of the government.

Government is not just about public service, pero government is about, 'di ba, government and people working together. Im saying this because we have done this in Naga when my husband was mayor. Parang we tried, we exerted a lot of effort in trying to change the mind set of the constituency. Kasi, noong yung ang tao tinitingnan niya na hindi siya kabahagi ng gobyerno, very critical eh. Parang, pag namamali yung gobyerno, ambilis kaagad na, parang, hindi forgiving. Pero, pero noong naramdaman na ng tao na kalahok siya sa pamumuno, when the constituency is assured that he has a voice in governance, they become very collaborative eh. And when the constituency is very collaborative, understood, they share in the successes of government, pero yung failures naman mas understanding, while critical pa din, pero hindi critical na ganitong level satin, na kapag may nagkakamali, parang hindi, ibang iba. Ibang iba in the sense that, imbes na working together as one, parating tinitingnan, ikaw yung gobyerno, kami hindi. Dapat hindi ganon yon. Dapat isa lang yon lahat.

JN: Thank you. The next question is from Julliane.

Julliane de Jesus: Hi ma'am. One question again from Facebook. This is from Orly Fuentes. If fortunate to win as a VP, will we see a vice president in you, will you not just fall under the shadow of the President? If so, what concrete plans do you have in mind that you think you can turn into 100 percent realizations during your 6 years?

Leni: Ako alam mo, reality is that, what I will do in the next six years if elected would a large part depend on the assignment that the President will give me. Parang, it's in the law naman, in the constitution. Ako talaga katuwang ng pangulo, pero yung pangulo yung may kapangyarihan na mag assign sa akin ng additional na trabaho.

Pero yung sa akin if given the choice, mas gusto ko sana hindi cabinet position so that hindi siya parang barred down by the daily admin thing. Gusto kong ayusin yung lahat ng anti-poverty programs. Kasi dun naman ako nanggaling. When I say ayusin, ngayon napakarami na nating anti-poverty programs pero tingin ko kasi andami pang room for improvement. Ang number one dun, ang accessibility ng tao na maka take part 'dun sa mga programa. Ngayon yung bureaucratic red tape, talagang, ang grabe pa. Halimbawa na lang sa housing, bago maka access, napakaraming opisinang pupuntahan, napakaraming pirma yung kailangan. Yung sa akin sana, gusto kong padalihin lahat.padalihin yung tao na maka access sa anti poverty programs, kasi bahagi naman yon ng serbisyo na dinedeserve nila. Pero yung pagsabi na anti poverty program parating patungo sa rural development. Yung sa sakin gusto ko opisina ng vice president is parang ano yon e, nag cocommand ka ng national attention na gusto ko pinupuntahan ko yung mga probinsyang matagal nang napag-iwanan pero marami yung potential at pwede talagang, pwedeng ayusin yung development. Hindi siguro ako vice president na parating nag oopisina sa Coconut Palace. Mas gusto kong nag-oopisina sa mga probinsya hindi para mamulitika pero para paramdamin sa mga tao na yung gobyerno nandiyan para sa kanila.

JN: Balikan po natin yan mamaya kung sino ba nakatira sa Coconut Palace. Pero may tanong muna tayo from Joel Bibit from facebook. Maliban sa mahihirap, may plano ka ba para sa aming nasa middle class? Kasi mahirap lang nakaka avail ng mga libreng programa.

Leni: Yung sa akin syempre meron. Pero yung sa atin naman parating may sinasabi to whom much is given, much is required. Ang gusto kong sabihin na yung mas nakaka angat, hindi na muna, parang, parang ano to, parang gusto nating maging equitable lahat. Yung mas kulang yun yung mas pagbibigyan ng atensyon. Yung mas marami yun yung mas less na atensyon.

Parati naman tayong may programa sa middle class. Halimbawa yung pag aayos ng public utilities, pag aayos ng accesibility. Yung rural development yung mag be-benefit din dito ay yung middle class in the sense na marami ngayon na middle class ang nawawalay sa kanilang pamilya dahil kailangang magtrabaho sa malayo. Yun yung gusto nating ayusin para yung mga pamilya hindi na magkawalay-walay dahil may trabaho ng available sa lugar. Nung wala pa ako sa pulitika, marami kaming sinubukan na pagaasikaso nito. Halimbawa yung mga nanay. Mga nanay na katulad namin na parating yung struggle every day, papano i-jujuggle yung family at trabaho.

Papano mo ba bibigyan ng mas equitable access yung lahat na yung quality of life niya 'di na nag susuffer pero...