Leni accepts Rody’s dinner invitation
Vice President Ma. Leonor “Leni” Robredo, citing the best interest of the nation, yesterday announced her acceptance of President Duterte’s dinner invitation, saying it’s worth a try.
“Even how hard it is, we would try all avenues for us to find peace for our country,” Robredo, who was once a member of the Duterte Cabinet, said in an interview over radio dzMM.
The country’s two top leaders appeared in public together, seated beside each other, last week at the graduation rites of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) in Silang, Cavite.
It was only the second time they met in a public event since Robredo resigned from the Cabinet last year.
On the sidelines of the 38th PNPA commencement exercises, the Vice President recalled her conversation with the Chief Executive who invited her and her family for a “friendly” dinner.
“Why don’t we have dinner? Bring your children. I will bring my family,” Robredo, recalling the President’s invitation while she was about to leave the event, said.
In response, the former housing chief accepted Duterte’s invitation, telling him and his Special Assistant Secretary Christopher “Bong” Go just to give her a call about the date of the dinner.
“It’s nice,” Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a Palace news conference about the upcoming dinner between the two leaders.
Abella, however, said the dinner between Duterte and Robredo has yet to be scheduled.
Robredo admitted being surprised by Duterte’s invitation. She was also mindful of his intentions, taking into consideration the claims of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and her supporters that it could be a “trap.”
“I think their fears have basis because of the many things that happened before this. I’m aware of the concerns of many,” she said.
But having said that, the Vice President believed that it was more of “extending a hand” on the part Duterte.
Robredo stressed that she and Duterte were both given mandates to serve the country and it’s their “obligation to find common ground” even if they don’t agree on certain issues.
“It would be wrong if I would turn my back. He is the President. The assumption always is good intentions, right? It will be bad not to meet his offer halfway,” she noted.
Senator Panfilo Lacson agreed with Robredo. He said that Duterte’s invitation to Robredo should be seen as a sign of goodwill that would allow the healing of political wounds between the two highest ranking officials of the land.
The President and Vice President had a falling out following growing criticisms over allegations of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) attending Duterte’s controversial war on illegal drugs.
Lacson said Robredo should not reject the invitation at a time when Duterte “is facing the biggest political storm yet of his term as President.”
He, likewise, disagreed with Trillanes’ allegations the President’s invitation is a trap to disarm and politically neutralize the Vice President.
Lacson, chairman of the Senate Public Order and Dangerous Drugs Committee that probed the alleged EJKs, said nobody should attach malice or ill motives behind the President’s invitation. (With reports from Mario B. Casayuran and Genalyn D. Kabiling)