(Eagle News) — After receiving a relayed instruction for her not to attend cabinet meetings anymore starting Monday (December 5), Vice President Leni Robredo announced that she is resigning from President Duterte’s cabinet.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Robredo said that she is tendering his resignation as Chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) on Monday.
She said she arrived at this decision after she received a text message from Cabinet Secretary Jun Evasco, Jr., who relayed to her the President’s instruction through Bong Go for her to “to desist from attending all Cabinet meetings starting December 5.”
Robredo claimed this was “the last straw” for her as she admitted that she and the President had “major differences in principles and values.”
“This is the last straw, because it makes it impossible for me to perform my duties. Hence, I am tendering my resignation from the Cabinet on Monday, December 5, 2016. With this resignation, you can expect that I will continue to support the positive initiatives of this administration and oppose those that are inimical to the people’s interest,” she said in her statement.
Philippine Vice-President Leni Robredo said on December 4, 2016 she was told that President Rodrigo Duterte had barred her from cabinet meetings, and alleged there was a plot to oust her as his deputy. / AFP PHOTO / Ted ALJIBE
-I think she was “fired,” says Speaker Alvarez –
However, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Sunday night claimed that considering the circumstances, it was more appropriate to say that Vice President Robredo was being “fired” from the President’s cabinet because of the text message she had received before she announced her resignation.
“Considering the situation, I think she is fired,” Alvarez said in a text message reported by GMA News Online.
Speaker Alvarez sent the message after Robredo announced her intention to resign her post as HUDCC chair.
Malacanang said it had not received any word from Robredo about her intended resignation, but already mentioned the “irreconcilable and public” differences in the recent events between the President and Robredo.
Robredo recently made public pronouncements criticizing the President’s decision on the burial of the late President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, and on the proposal to revive the death penalty.
Malacanang, in a statement from the Office of the Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, said that it was important for a cabinet member to enjoy the full trust and confidence of the President.
“A member of the Cabinet enjoys the full trust and confidence of the President for he or she acts as the President’s alter ego. Having said this, the President entrusted the Vice President, whom we all know came from a rival political party, a position in his official family in deference to the wishes of our people who want both leaders to work together and succeed,” it said.
-Irreconcilable and public differences –
“As a Cabinet member, the Vice President is expected to be a team player where differences in policies and issues are discussed during Cabinet meetings. The President in turn respects any decision agreed upon by his Cabinet,” the statement read.
But it said “recent events” showed “the differences between the President and the Vice President as becoming irreconcilable and public.”
“The Vice President has served our people for many years in various capacities and we wish her to continue this unhampered service to the nation to the best of her abilities,” it said.
Robredo was offered and appointed as housing chief in July this year, shortly after she made a courtesy call to Duterte in Malacanang on July 4, a few days after his inauguration as President.
Below is Robredo’s full statement:
“We had hoped this day would not come.
I had been warned of a plot to steal the Vice Presidency. I have chosen to ignore this and focus on the job at hand. But the events of recent days indicate that this plot is now being set into motion.
From the very beginning, the President and I had major differences in principles and values. Since I assumed office, I have been consistent in my opposition to issues such as the burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani, extra-judicial killings, reinstating death penalty, lowering the age of criminal liability, and sexual attacks against women.
But we both had a mandate to serve the people. I had hoped that this shared commitment to the poor and marginalized would transcend the differences between us. So, I took the job of Housing Secretary when it was offered to me.
In barely five months, we have solid accomplishments in HUDCC. This, despite the obstacles thrown our way, which are:
One, the budget for all key shelter agencies in 2017 has been slashed by more than P19 billion. Two, all our key shelter agency appointment recommendations have not been acted on. Three, the Executive Order designed to make HUDCC effective was not signed.
Then, we received a text message last Saturday from Cabinet Secretary Jun Evasco, Jr., relaying the President’s instruction through Bong Go for me “to desist from attending all Cabinet meetings starting this Monday, December 5.”
This is the last straw, because it makes it impossible for me to perform my duties. Hence, I am tendering my resignation from the Cabinet on Monday, December 5, 2016. With this resignation, you can expect that I will continue to support the positive initiatives of this administration and oppose those that are inimical to the people’s interest.
However, as your duly elected Vice President, I will not allow the Vice Presidency to be stolen. I will not allow the will of the people to be thwarted. I will continue to serve the Filipino family and fulfill their dream for a better life.”