Vice President Leni Robredo said Thursday she was ready to return to development work should she lose in the May elections, as she reminded voters that more than her political future, the country's direction is at stake.
Robredo said her transformative brand of politics is "so different" from that of her chief rival, former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., who she beat in 2016. The late dictator's son is leading in the Dec. 1 to 6 Pulse Asia survey.
"What's at stake is not just my winning or losing this election but what is the direction that we would want our government to take in the next six years," Robredo told ANC's "The Rundown".
"Ayoko ng patronage politics. Sa akin, yung gusto kong pulitika ’yung hindi siya masama," she said.
Asked by anchor Mike Navallo about the possibility of losing, Robredo said: "I was a development worker and alternative lawyer for many, many years. I have just been a politician for close to nine years. So para sa akin, it will not be difficult for me to go back to the life I was leading before my husband died and before I entered politics."
“I will still be doing the things the things that I have been doing before I became a politician and that is working very, very closely with the margins. I will still continue with all my advocacies," she said.
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The Jesse Robredo Foundation, named after her husband who died in a 2012 plane crash, is advocating for education and good governance.
Robredo said she finds strength in the fact that she beat Marcos Jr in 2016, also coming from poor survey numbers.
"Mas mabuti-buti na nga ngayon. Kasi in 2016, I was number 6 of 6 candidates. I had to literally igapang ang sarili ko paakyat and I was able to do it. So ang sinasabi ko lang na ngayon nga na mas marami ’yung mga volunteers na very invested, lalong yung possibility na kakayanin, nandiyan,” she was quoted by ABS-CBN News, based on the ANC interview.
“Kung hindi ako mapili, gusto kong sabihin, pinili ng tao na ’yung dati pa rin. Mas gusto pa din ’yung pulitika ng patronage. Mas gusto pa din na mahalaga ’yung pera, mahalaga ’yung pangalan, mahalaga kung sino kakampi as against what we are offering . . . Sa akin, parang ano naman to e, walang sama ng loob,” she said.
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