MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Leni Robredo said supporters of President Rodrigo Duterte who act like blogger Drew Olivar, infamous for his lewd federalism jingle and dance, only give a bad impression of the Philippines and its top leader.

This was the Vice President’s reply when asked why she is eyeing filing a criminal case against Olivar, whose video of him cursing Robredo and alleging she slept around in South Africa in 2017 recently resurfaced online.

A netizen tweeted Olivar’s 2017 video after the latter sang and danced his “I-pepe, i-dede, i-pederalismo” jingle in a Facebook Live video posted last week by Communications Secretary Mocha Uson, another avid Duterte supporter. 

“Iyong mga taong ganito, ano ito eh, hindi sila nakakatulong kay Pangulong Duterte. Kung iyong sadya nila ay iyong makatulong, lalo silang hindi nakakatulong. Binibigyan nila ng masamang impression iyong Pangulo kasi sila iyong mga supporters. Dapat sana sila iyong nagdadala ng kagandahang-loob,” Robredo told reporters in Camarines Sur. 

(People like him do not help President Duterte. If they hope to help him, they have failed. They’re only giving a bad impression of the President because they are his supporters. They should strive to be good role models instead.) 

“Kapag ganito iyong ginagamit na paraan, hindi lang si Pangulo iyong nababastos pero lahat ng Pilipino,” she added.

(When they resort to things like this, they are not only disrespecting the President but all other Filipinos as well.)

According to the Vice President, she initially did not want to give attention to Duterte supporters who spread lies about her. But many of her advisers encouraged her to consider filing a case against Olivar this time. 

On July 10, the Vice President said she has accepted the call to lead and unite the opposition against the Duterte administration. (READ: Don’t call Leni Robredo the opposition Messiah) 

She previously posted a two-part series of videos to debunk every single lie being spread about her online. – Rappler.com