WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Leni Robredo, 14th vice president of the Republic of the Philippines, will be stepping down from office by noon on June 30, 2022.
The past six years have been a tumultuous one for Robredo, who had to juggle the vice presidency with leading the fragmented opposition forces against outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte. She was briefly appointed as housing czar, only for Duterte to ease her out of Cabinet meetings. She eventually resigned in 2016. Irked by her criticisms of the drug war, a spiteful Duterte later appointed Robredo as co-chair of his anti-drugs body, but he fired her after just 18 days. Robredo became the punching bag of pro-Duterte propagandists and trolls, who spewed the most vicious lies against her and her family.
Yet these attacks did not stop Robredo from reinventing the Office of the Vice President. Her flagship anti-poverty program Angat Buhay was widely praised for being quick and effective despite the OVP’s measly annual budget. The program, with help from its 372 partner-organizations, benefitted some 622,000 Filipinos across 223 cities and municipalities, using more than P520 million primarily sourced from donations from the private sector.
Robredo tried but failed to gun for the presidency in the high-stakes 2022 elections. She now plans to return to being a development worker and alternative lawyer for the poor and the marginalized.
She will be turning Angat Buhay, her flagship program as VP, into a non-governmental organization, eyeing it to become the “biggest volunteer movement” the country has ever seen. Robredo also plans to actively lead efforts to counter the disinformation plague in the Philippines.
In this diary, Rappler reporter Mara Cepeda documents Robredo’s final days as vice president.
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June 26: Signs off for the last time from ‘Biserbisyong Leni’ show on RMN DZXL
Robredo and veteran broadcaster Ely Saludar hosted the radio show Biserbisyong Leni for the last time on RMN DZXL.
The Vice President launched her weekly radio show in May 2017, and it became a platform for Filipinos to get updated on Robredo’s projects and to hear her thoughts on the most pressing issues of the week. Social media users were able to watch Biserbisyong Leni live on Facebook and Youtube, too.
The last 15 to 20 minutes of the program would usually be dedicated to the “Istorya ng Pag-asa” segment, where Robredo and Saludar would interview “extraordinary” Filipinos with stories of hope to share to the rest of the nation.
But on the final episode of Biserbisyong Leni, Robredo mostly looked back on her journey as vice president.
She considered all the trials she and the Office of the Vice President went through as a “blessing” in disguise.
“’Yung lahat ng mga kahirapan na ’binigay sa amin, actually ’yun ’yung nagpahusay sa amin…. Dahil hindi kami ’tinuring na kakampi, hindi kami ’tinuring na bahagi ng pamahalaan, natuto kami, Ka Ely, natuto kami maghanap ng paraan. And, to my mind, ’yun ’yung nagpahusay sa amin,” Robredo said.
(All of the trials that came our way pushed us to strive for excellence…. Because we weren’t treated like allies, because we weren’t treated as part of government, we had to learn to look for other ways to help. And, to my mind, that’s what made us become excellent in the work that we did.)
After the show aired, Robredo went on Facebook to share photos of the day she and her team held a photo shoot for the promotion materials for Biserbisyong Leni.
“We never expected to last for 5 years and we did!! Thank you, Ka Ely and RMN. Looking back at how we started. Haha. This was when we were shooting for our pub mats. Sobrang yagit. Thank you, Jopau, Aica, Chari, Marvin, Patrick, Jose, Tin,” said Robredo.
June 25: Bonds with security detail from Vice Presidential Security Detachment
Robredo spent most of her Saturday together with her security detail from the Vice Presidential Security Detachment (VPSD), which kept her and her three daughters Aika, Tricia, and Jillian safe during her vice presidency.
“The best team one could ever hope for… Thank you for securing our family in the past 6 years,” said Robredo in an Instagram Stories post.
June 24: Administers oath of councilors across several provinces, has dinner with UP Econ classmates
In her sixth to the last day in office, Robredo administered the oath of several incoming councilors: Mayen Mar Gulmatico, Gracia Marie Loffe, and Jemar Alerta (Janiuay, Iloilo), Nicanor Pedro Jr. (Lucena City, Quezon), Rhodora Roldan-Guevara (Castillejos, Zambales), Maria Mylen Victoria Yaranon (Baguio City), and Alfred Zapanta (Antipolo City).
Robredo ended her Friday night by having dinner with her classmates from her days as an economics student at the University of the Philippines-Diliman. Robredo graduated from UP in 1986, then went on to study law at the University of Nueva Caceres. She finished her law studies in 1992 and passed the Bar in 1997.
June 24: Attends Mass for Noynoy Aquino’s 1st death anniversary
It’s a full day for Robredo. In the morning, the Vice President attended the Holy Mass in commemoration of the first death anniversary of the late president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. He was the chairman emeritus of the once-ruling Liberal Party, which Robredo chaired starting 2016.
Robredo said the death of Aquino in 2021 marks the end of an era in Philippine politics. “He tried to do what was right, even when it was not popular,” said Robredo on the day Aquino died.
She met with her campaign volunteers from the Business 2 Business group, before welcoming the subject matter experts from the University of the Philippines’ College of Education who helped create instructional videos for the OVP’s Bayanihan e-Skwela program during the pandemic.
Robredo also had several engagements with Batangueños. She led the oath-taking ceremonies of Batangas Vice Governor Jose Antonio “Mark” Leviste II; Lian, Batangas Vice Mayor Roberto Antonio “Ronin” Leviste, and Tanauan City Councilor Czylene Marqueses.
The Vice President then had a meet and greet with the members of Robredo People’s Council Batangas and other campaign volunteers from the province led by Batangas City Councilor Aileen Grace Arriola-Montalbo.
