Imee Marcos Says Leni Robredo an 'Extraordinary Housewife'
(UPDATE) Vice President Leni Robredo is an "extraordinary housewife" who should never be underestimated, Sen. Imee Marcos said Wednesday when asked to describe some of her brother Bongbong's rivals in the 2022 presidential elections.
The only son and namesake of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. will face off with Robredo, who beat him in 2016 and whose victory was upheld by the Supreme Court despite his years-long protest.
The Marcos sister was asked in a TeleRadyo interview to describe her brother's rivals in two words. To Robredo, she said "extraordinary housewife", adding the vice president should "never be underestimated".
"Lahat 'yan matitindi, may kanya-kanyang galing 'yan e kaya't wala kaming minamani diyan. Lahat sila mabibigat, lahat may balwarte, lahat may narrative, ika nga, na napakahirap buwagin," she told TeleRadyo.
Marcos Jr. is ahead of Robredo but is behind Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio in surveys done before President Rodrigo Duterte's daughter missed the deadline to register as a presidential candidate. She said she would not run to succeed her father.
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"Nakakatakot 'yang early lead, early lead na 'yan. Hopefully it holds but on the other hand we cannot count on it and sit on these online surveys," Imee Marcos said.
"Kami natatakot din, kasi sabi rin nila there's no second act, wala raw take two sa pulitika kaya nga si Bongbong ninenerbyos din," she said.
Robredo's spokesman Barry Gutierrez said the vice president is also an "extraordinary lawyer", a "productive legislator", an "actual degree holder (several times over, in fact)", and the "duly elected Vice President."
Marcos Jr.'s educational background is also the subject of online discussion. Oxford University's Filipino alumni said over the weekend that he finished a special course not a bachelor's degree to counter what they described as "continuing misinformation" about his credentials.
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Robredo's rise to power is reminiscent of the country's first woman president, Cory Aquino. The two were thrust into politics after their husbands' deaths. Unlike Aquino, however, Robredo served as public lawyer, congresswoman and vice president before seeking the presidency.
It was Aquino who challenged Marcos in the 1986 snap elections which he won, but was marred by allegations of massive fraud. Comelec canvassers at that time walked out in disgust. A subsequent military-backed revolt dubbed People Power forced the Marcos family into exile.
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