Vice President Leni Robredo said the refusal of former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to accept defeat in the 2016 elections “casts a doubt on the integrity” of democratic institutions in the country.
She said the refusal of her opponent in the vice presidential race five years ago to accept the decision of the Presidential Electoral Tribunal
“This is unfortunate because this is not just between the two of us. This is not just a Marcos vs Robredo fight. If you destroy our democratic institutions, you destroy our country,” the Vice President said during her weekend radio show.
The Marcos camp earlier argued that the Presidential Electoral Tribunal's dismissal of his poll protest does not include his third cause of action, which seeks to annul election results in three provinces in Mindanao.
Marcos lawyer and spokesperson Vic Rodriguez their third cause of action might proceed independently from the manual recount and judicial revision.
Robredo, however, said Marcos owes his supporters an apology for feeding them lies for the past five years.
“His propaganda that he was cheated – the people who believed him, he owes it to them,” she said.
Meanwhile, Robredo said she is open to the possibility of gunning for the presidency in the national elections next year.
“I know I have an obligation at the national level. I know there are people who are urging me to run, at least our allies are urging me to run for president. So to me that is the default,” she told GMA News in a separate interview.
“The circumstances can still change. Perhaps the earliest I can make a decision is in September, just before the filing. But right now I am open to anything. Wherever I am needed, I will go there,” she added.
