Robredo asks supporters to respect results, prepare for bigger fights
VICE PRESIDENT Maria Leonor “Leni” G. Robredo asked her supporters to accept the results of the May 9 polls and prepare for a bigger fight after the election period.
“Whatever the final result is, although we have yet to see it, let’s accept it,” she said in Filipino at a public gathering on Tuesday in her home province Camariñes Sur attended by volunteers and supporters. “This is where we will draw our strength.”
“There are bigger fights and ours does not end with this election,” she said. “Many eyes were opened. Many minds woke up. The fight continues.”
At the same time, Ms. Robredo said her camp would still look into the issues being raised about the conduct of the May 9 elections.
Ms. Robredo made the statement at the Naga Metropolitan Cathedral after a Mass organized by her supporters for “unity and thanksgiving” while unofficial election results showed a landslide victory for Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr.
Mr. Marcos and his family were forced into exile in the United States after his father’s martial rule was toppled by a popular uprising in February 1986.
Mr. Marcos’ running mate, Sara Duterte-Carpio, has also clinched a wide margin.
There will be a “new era of unity” once Mr. Marcos and Ms. Carpio assume their posts, according to their camp.
What the public should expect in the next six years is a “new era of unity where the President and the Vice President are going to be working in harmony,” Ms. Carpio’s spokesperson, Liloan Mayor Ma. Esperanza Christina Ga. Frasco, told ABS-CBN News Channel. “That has been their message all along.”
“That unity promise remains to be seen. It is easier said than done,” said Jean Encinas-Franco, who teaches political science at the University of the Philippines.
“They have different sets of people,” she said in a Messenger chat. “They are both neophytes in the field so they will heavily rely on people who have different mindsets.”
Temario C. Rivera, who heads the Center for People Empowerment in Governance, said the tandem must consider that the May 9 election has given birth to a broad coalition of opposition forces that is prepared to make authorities more accountable for their actions.
“As long as legitimate issues of corruption, human rights abuses, red-tagging, and other forms of impunity against the Marcoses and Dutertes are not effectively addressed, the call for unity will ring hollow especially to at least 15 million voters who voted against the team,” he said in a Messenger chat.
Political analysts have warned of potential instability under a Marcos presidency, saying he’s unlikely to pursue political reforms that could address the concerns of various sectors. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
