MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte accused Vice President Leni Robredo of attending rallies that call for his ouster, as the chief executive explained why he is not keen on giving her a new Cabinet post. 

“Ang problema, si Leni nakikita ko sa rally (The problem is, I see Leni in rallies),” Duterte said in an interview with GMA News on Thursday, December 29.

“Don’t you think that it’s an incongruity? Harapin mo ‘ko (you would face me), you owe my appointment from me, then makita kita (I’d see you) demanding for my ouster, then harapin mo ‘ko uli (you face me again)?” the President added.

In an earlier interview with CNN Philippines, Duterte said: “It’s not really for anything, it’s just the incongruity. You are there, and you are part of the crowd. You may not really be asking for it, but you are part of the crowd who says want me out.”

This, Duterte said, is despite their good relationship and him going out of his way to make Robredo chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council.

Robredo earlier said she did not participate in rallies against the President, especially those opposing the burial of dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery).

On November 30, Robredo attended a Bantayog ng mga Bayani event that honored Martial Law victims as heroes, but the Vice President said it “was not an action against the administration.”

Robredo resigned from the Cabinet early this month after receiving an order from Malacañang to cease attending Cabinet meetings. Palace officials said the order was due to Robredo’s “irreconcilable differences” with Duterte.

Eventually, the President’s supporters cited a supposed LP plot to unseat Duterte and install Robredo. The LP has denied this claim.

Despite the LP’s denial, Duterte stressed this supposed plan of the so-called “yellow party,” noting that the Left would not do this to him.

“Demonstrators diyan, the Left would never demand, maybe some other time. Pero ‘yang Left na ‘yan kahit saan. Duterte talaga ‘yan. They would never demand for it. Ang yellow, nag-oust,” he said in his interview with CNN Philippines.

(The Left, everywhere you go, ther are pro-Duterte. They would never demaind for it. The yellow is calling for ouster.) – Rappler.com