Vice President Leni Robredo and Senator Francis Pangilinan listen to questions during the announcement of the latter鈥檚 candidacy for vice president in the 2022 elections. Screengrab from Facebook/OVP
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� Running as an independent presidential candidate is in next year鈥檚 polls is Vice President Leni Robredo鈥檚 鈥渟ymbolic way鈥� of showing inclusivity.
Robredo said this Friday as she faced the media with her vice presidential running mate Senator Francis Pangilinan for the first time.
鈥淗indi naman ako nag-resign from the Liberal Party. Pero running [as an] independent is our symbolic way of showing na bukas kami sa pakikipag-alyansa sa maraming mga partido, yung aming isinusulong na inclusivity,鈥� Robredo said.
鈥淵ung sinimulan namin na pakikipagusap kahit di bahagi ng partido,鈥� she added.
In filing her certificate of candidacy, Robredo indicated that she is an independent candidate.
Robredo currently chairs the once-ruling Liberal Party.
鈥淎ng pagkakandidato naman sa pangulo ay hindi para sa partido pero para sa nagkakaisang lakas ng sambayanan,鈥� she went on.
With her running as an independent, will the Liberal Party adopt her as a presidential candidate? Pangilinan, the party鈥檚 president, said it has been earlier decided that Robredo will be their candidate for the presidency.
鈥淲e already passed a resolution in our National Executive council meeting na our candidate for president is VP Leni. So that is already set and therefore the party will mobilize behind her,鈥� he said.
On Thursday, after months of anticipation and speculation, Robredo declared she will join the presidential race in next year鈥檚 elections.
Before this, Robredo had been engaging in talks with other presidential aspirants for a united opposition ticket.
But the talks seemed to have failed after the aspirants Robredo met with formalized their respective presidential bids.