(Eagle News) – President Rodrigo Duterte had become “uncomfortable” working in the cabinet with Vice-President Leni Robredo and his trust for her had dwindled which was the reason for him to issue a directive that she should already “desist” from attending cabinet meetings, Palace officials said Tuesday.
Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said this, while also clarifying that it was not the President’s intention to fire Robredo from her cabinet post.
“With or without her attending the cabinet, she could function (as head of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council),” Abella said in a press briefing Tuesday in Malacanang.
But Robredo’s resignation “sealed” that decision.
“She took the move and she resigned,” he said.
Abella stressed that it is within the power of the President to “hire or fire” his cabinet officials whom he chose and appointed based on his level of trust and confidence that he could work with them. It is then expected that all cabinet members would in turn respect the President’s decisions and policies and not publicly criticize him.
While she was a cabinet member, Robredo, on the other hand, had been very vocal and public in criticizing the President in his policy statements.
Robredo vowed on December 5 to spearhead national opposition against extrajudicial killings and other flashpoint issues surrounding firebrand leader Rodrigo Duterte’s controversial anti-crime crackdown. / AFP PHOTO / Noel CELIS
– Duterte uncomfortable with Robredo’s political actions –
“The President felt it is already uncomfortable working with the Vice President. The President felt uncomfortable with her engagements in political actions,” Abella said.
On Monday, the President issued a statement saying he is accepting Robredo’s decision to resign “with a heavy heart.”
“He (Duterte) wanted her in but it is her choice to leave. By her actions, like what the President recognized as it was articulated, there may be irreconcilable differences, but it’s nothing personal,” Abella told reporters Monday night at an event at the Palace grounds.
“Sabi ngang ganun, his repect remains for the Vice-President,” he added.
Robredo was offered the post of HUDCC chairwoman early July 2016 after she made a courtesy call to President Duterte congratulating him after his inauguration.
–No plot to oust VP –
House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez also denied Robredo’s allegations about an alleged plot to oust her, saying there was no such thing.
“Bakit naman sa dami ng problema ng bansa natin pag-aabalahan pa iyan ng Presidente (The nation has so many problems already, so why would the President bother with that)?” Davao del Norte Rep. Alvarez told reporters, referring to the alleged plot to unseat Robredo.
Alvarez said the President would not even benefit from Robredo’s removal. In fact, it was she who would benefit from a premature Dutrete exit.
He said that the President already has his hands full dealing with the drug problem, so dealing with political intrigues is not in his agenda.
Alvarez, a stalwart of the ruling PDP-Laban, also said the President has nothing to do with deliberations on former Senator Ferdinand Marcos’ electoral protests with the Presidential Electoral Tribunal.
–Dwindling trust for Robredo-
He said that if Robredo is confident that she really had the votes, then she should not worry about Marcos’ pending electoral protest.
Presidential communications secretary Martin Andanar also observed that the President’s trust on Robredo may have dwindled, possibly because she had been very vocal in opposing his major policies and pronouncements publicly.
Commenting on the order from the President earlier for Robredo not to attend cabinet meetings anymore, Andanar said this was an indication of lack of trust.
“Reading between the lines, it is saying that the President no longer has the confidence and the trust to be in one room with the Vice President,” Andanar said.
-Oust Duterte moves from opposition –
The President had also been vocal before about moves from his political enemies to oust him from office.
Last September, Duterte hinted it was the Liberal Party, Robredo’s political affiliation, which has been mounting moves to unseat him using as leverage the issue of his administration’s alleged human rights violations.
“Let’s not fool ourselves. Do you know who’s behind this? It’s the yellow,” the President said, referring to the LP’s political color,” he said in an event on September 12 during the oath-taking rites of his new appointees in Malacañang
“They think that if they can build a case against me, I’ll be impeached,” he said. “My God! I tell you frankly, when I assumed office, in this quest of mine, I have prepared to lose my honor, my life and the presidency.”
Andanar in September also said that there was also plot to oust the President from Filipino Americans in New York.
“I was just talking to somebody in New York now who is also a member of the Cabinet – I won’t mention his name. But he also heard of the Fil-Ams in New York who are planning. They are hatching a plan to oust the President by January 2017. There is this kind of report,” Andanar said in a radio interview over DZRH on September 19.
Before this, in early August, just a month into her office as Vice President, Robredo went to the US to address Filipino Americans in Pennsylvania.
She also pointed out that it was in North America which delivered the biggest percentage of ballots in her favor.
Robredo spoke before the national empowerment conference of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) held in the first week of August.
On Monday night, the President again brought up the issue of the opposition’s desire to remove him from power, and again cited the year 2017.
“We’re nearing 2017. Sa mga opposition, maghintay na lang kayo. Total naghintay rin sila. Maghintayan na lang tayo. You’ve had your days,” the President said.
