[WATCH] Why Robredo won’t get fixated on ouster threats if elected president

MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Leni Robredo said that if she becomes president, one of the things she won’t do is to get fixated on a possible ouster threat as this would distract her from her “more important” duties.

The presidential candidate made the statement when asked how she would handle an ouster threat scenario in #WeDecide: First 100 Days, a presidential interview series by Rappler CEO and Nobel laureate Maria Ressa which aired on Wednesday, April 20. 

Robredo said that her main focus would be on the difficult task of leading the country. She believes getting fixated on a potential post-elections chaos scenario “would cost me my being a good president.” 

Robredo said her long experience in handling crisis situations even before she joined politics has honed her skill in focussing “on the more important things.” This is why, she said, she would devote her efforts on doing her job well rather than get sidetracked by the specter of an ouster attempt. Besides, she added, she has been used to crisis management even before she reluctantly joined politics.

“I’m so used to very difficult situations. I don’t think there was ever a role that I played, even before I joined politics, that wasn’t difficult…. I’ve been used to handling crisis already…. Looking back, it gave me the ability to focus on the more important things,” she said.

Ressa specifically referred to a situation like EDSA 3, where supporters of ousted president Joseph Estrada trooped to Malacañang on May 1, 2001, in protest of his arrest and ultimately in an attempt to reinstall him.

EDSA 3 happened barely three months after then-vice president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was installed in Malacañang, following the ouster of Estrada. Arroyo was beset by continued destabilization threats during her nine-year presidency, including the 2003 Oakwood Mutiny and the 2007 Manila Peninsula Siege.

Robredo explained: “Halimbawa, ‘pag naging pangulo ako, iniisip ko na ‘yung possibility na mag-EDSA 3, baka ang gawin ko na lang nang gawin, nililigawan ko nang nililigawan ‘yung mga pulitiko and ‘yung mga people who have influence.  And I think that would cost me my being a good president,” she said.

(For example, if I become president and I always think of the possibility of an EDSA 3, I might end up just wooing and wooing politicians and people who have influence. And I think that would cost me my being a good president.)

She said she has always been of the belief that if she’s focused on her job, and if does good things, “the universe will conspire to make sure I’m given the kind of strength and the kind of support that I would need.” – Rappler.com