Vice President Leni Robredo. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� It seems Vice President Leni Robredo鈥攚ho has kept both supporters and rivals guessing on her political ambitions for 2022鈥攊ntends to cut her decision close to the Oct. 8 deadline for the filing of certificates of candidacy (COC) for the 2022 elections.
With two weeks left on the clock and six possible presidential candidates on the table (Sen. Christopher 鈥淏ong鈥� Go, Sen. Panfilo Lacson, Manila Mayor Francisco 鈥淚sko Moreno鈥� Domagoso, Sen. Manny Pacquiao, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, and Ferdinand 鈥淏ongbong鈥� Marcos Jr.), Robredo on Sunday said she remained committed to pursuing unification talks among the other candidates to pave the most favorable path to victory for the opposition.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not like I have a choice but to decide before Oct. 8,鈥� Robredo said in her weekly radio show. 鈥淏ut for me, I still have two weeks. I鈥檓 going to see whether there鈥檚 still hope for everyone to band together.鈥�
For the past months, Robredo has been in talks with other presidential candidates in hopes of finding common ground with the other contenders seeking to challenge the administration candidate.
She believes that the only way for the opposition to win was to field only one candidate, to avoid splitting the vote.
鈥楾here is still hope鈥�
But three of the politicians that opposition slate 1Sambayan had approached鈥擫acson, Pacquiao and Domagoso鈥攁lready announced their own intention to run for the presidency.
But for Robredo, 鈥渦ntil and unless they have already filed [their COCs], there is still hope.鈥�
鈥淔or me, as long as we unite or the more that we reduce the number of people gunning for the presidency, the better,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd that is why I don鈥檛 plan on rushing myself, because there is still hope.鈥�
For the past weeks, several grassroots groups have come together to urge Robredo to decide now and run against President Duterte鈥檚 anointed successor.
Robredo also got candid about her motivations to run for the presidency, if ever: To block the path of the Marcoses from returning to power, and to 鈥渟top the kind of governance we鈥檙e seeing now to repeat itself for another six years.鈥� INQ