MALACAÑANG invited Vice President Leni Robredo to its Vin d’ honneur reception but then canceled it, Robredo’s spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
“Our Office received an invitation to the Vin d’honneur via e-mail last December 28,” Georgina Hernandez told reporters in a statement.
But “On January 4 Malacañang called the Office to retract the invitation, stating that the guest list was limited,” she said.
Malacañang said it was President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision on who to invite for his first Vin d’ honneur after Robredo got uninvited to the annual Palace gathering.
“It was not the President’s decision to snub her,” presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella told reporters.
“But clearly, it’s his prerogative on who to invite.”
Robredo was not around during Duterte’s first Vin d’ honneur where few officials and foreign dignitaries were present.
Malacañang sent an invitation to Robredo on Dec. 28 but retracted it a week later. The vice president traditionally joins the President in welcoming the diplomatic corps during the Vin d’ honneur.
Robredo resigned as Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council chairwoman on Dec. 5, after receiving an order to “desist from attending” Cabinet meetings.
In a series of television interviews, Duterte accused Robredo of attending rallies calling for his ouster saying he was not keen on giving her a new Cabinet post.
“The problem is, I see Leni in rallies,” Duterte said in a Dec. 29 interview.
“You may not really be asking for it but you are part of the crowd who wants me out.”