THE administration doesn’t seem to like the way Vice President Leni Robredo has been talking to residents in the badly battered provinces by Typhoon Ulysses as a a top Palace official slammed heer actions in the aftermath of calamity.
According to presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, President Rodrigo Duterte was irked when Robredo coordinated with the military their rescue efforts in Cagayan Province amid widespread flooding.
Roque likewise said what angered the President more was the Vice President’s questioning his whereabouts while the typhoon unleashed its fury across Luzon.
“It was completely out of order that she misinformed the people, the nation, as if she was the one in charge of relief efforts. She was not,” Roque said.
“And the President said under the constitutional scheme, the Vice President is a spare tire. When Ulysses struck, he was in charge,” he added.
In his public address Tuesday night, Duterte insisted that he was monitoring the typhoon while attending a virtual summit of Southeast Asian leaders.
An angry Duterte likewise accused Robredo as a liar.
Robredo, however, retaliated and called Duterte a “misogynist,” even as she claimed that she was with the victims of the typhoon for the duration of their misery – something that is moot, academic and expected of an elected national official, especially during the most trying times.
As if Robredo’s statements are not enough, her spokesperson Barry Gutierrez accused the President and other administration officials as “seemingly determined to make this national calamity yet another excuse to engage in another nasty round of politics as usual.”
“The VP will not be dragged down to their level — there is just too much work that still needs to be done, and too many people that can still be helped,” Gutierrez said.