SHRUGGING off her apparent defeat in her bid for the presidency in last week’s electoral exercise, outgoing vice president Maria Leonor ‘Leni’ Robredo eyes to establish the country’s biggest volunteer network and the camp of president-elect Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. sees nothing wrong with the plan.
Though not explicitly conceding to her opponent, Robredo urged her supporters to accept the results of the election dominated by her archrival Marcos Jr., but she invited them to support a volunteer network that she would establish upon stepping down from office in July.
In a radio interview, Marcos’ spokesperson Atty. Victor ‘Vic’ Rodriguez enthused that their camp understands the right of any Filipino to freely organize for a particular endeavor or advocacy.
“It’s okay. Everyone has the right to organize and do whatever they want. Our only concern is while we can enjoy our freedom, each freedom contains within it a corresponding responsibility,” Rodriguez said in the vernacular.
“For as long as you are exercising your rights within the bounds of the law, any democratic government and leadership would respect that, just like the incoming administration of Bongbong,” he added to clarify his stand in the matter.
Marcos’ camp also stipulated that as long as the group of the country’s main opposition figure would act in accordance with the law, there would be no problem.
“Respect the Constitution, respect the law and we will be okay. Now, if you will be violating the law or undermining the Constitution, there is a corresponding responsibility. You should be ready to face the consequence,” Rodriguez said.
Meanwhile, in the spirit of reconciliation and unifying the country, the spokesperson of the incoming president also stressed that the incoming Marcos administration is open to appointing even members of the opposition, saying that the presidential front-runner’s call for unity is “not merely a campaign message.”
Marcos, he revealed, is currently looking at “some names” who belong to the opposition and may consider them based on their “competency.”
“All of us belong to one party now—the Republic of the Philippines. Our symbol is the Philippine flag. We are considering those who love and respect our Constitution, those who recognize the flag, who have never attempted to overthrow the government. Aside from unity, we need stability at this point in time in our government,” he concluded.
