PUNCHLINE
Clueless VP Leni
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
THERE she goes again, completely clueless. VP Leni Robredo that is.
During her recent trip to Europe with some LP stalwarts in tow, ostensibly to attend a series of meetings and fora on improving social justice and eliminating poverty, she not only outdid herself but again said a mouthful to insinuate that the Philippines is one of the worst places to live in the world to live in.
She apparently was enjoying herself too much as a hosted tourist that she failed to realize on two occasions that she is the vice president of the Philippines who was expected to be more knowledgeable, more sensitive of issues, and helpful to the cause of Filipinos.
But she was absolutely clueless.
She thought of nothing when she allowed herself and her entourage to enjoy being tourists, taking fun pictures of themselves around interesting tourist spots. And the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin was no different to them.
Rappler reported: “In the photo, Robredo and LP solons were seen happily posing at a monument that honors the memories of the millions who lost their lives during the holocaust. Several lawmakers of the Liberal Party, as well as Vice President Leni Robredo, drew flak from netizens after a photo of them posing at the holocaust memorial in Germany surfaced online.”
Rappler’s photo caption: “DISRESPECTFUL. Vice President Leni Robredo and Liberal Party lawmakers are criticized online for posing happily in a photo at the holocaust memorial in Berlin. Photo from Rep. Teddy Baguilat’s Twitter account.”
“In the photo were Liberal Party president and Senator Francis Pangilinan, Quezon City Representative Jose Christopher Belmonte, Dinagat Islands Representative Kaka Bag-ao, Marikina Representative Miro Quimbo, as well as former Budget Secretary Florencio Abad.”
Enough said.
* * * * *
BIASED ANTIQUATED DATA. But before her insensitive tourist antics with her entourage in Berlin, she spoke at a forum at the London School of Economics and Political Science on April 6.
What initially appeared to be a scholarly presentation early on, citing a “recent study” by Ateneo School of Government, she showed a link between the growth of political dynasties and deeper poverty, particularly in poor provinces.
Then all hell broke loose when she proceeded with her signature crabby impression of the country.
“Poverty was everywhere, road conditions were bad, public education was in poor shape, among many other things,” Robredo said referring to her Bicol region.
She defined “fat dynasties” as those having more than two family members occupying positions in the same geo-political jurisdiction.
To underscore her definition, VP Leni Robredo pointed to 10 provinces with the highest dynastic share in the 2016 election consistently that have ranked in the Top 20 poorest provinces since 2004, and named them as “Maguindanao, Sulu and Lanao del Sur in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao; Batangas and Rizal in Calabarzon region; Pampanga, Bulacan and Nueva Ecija in Central Luzon; and Pangasinan and Ilocos Norte in Ilocos region.”
Naturally, Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos didn’t let that pass without the VP getting it from her. And so did our Guv Pogi and our honorable board members. (Read our headline story).
And to rub it in, she said only Laos and Myanmar have poverty incidence levels higher than the Philippines, at 23.2 percent and 25.6 percent, respectively. Ugh! She stopped short of saying, “You wouldn’t like to live in the Philippines!”
* * * * *
MISPLACED HUMAN RIGHTS. On the obtaining human rights issues in the country, Robredo said: “Believe it or not, for some reason, human rights have been given a bad connotation in the Philippines. And it has not been that way before. But for the very first time, many Filipinos regard human rights as a sort of a bad thing. And it’s unfortunate.” Duh?
She obviously is out of touch and continues to live in her own world with the Liberal Party. Filipino people are grateful to the government for promoting and protecting their human rights against criminals and drug syndicates! And it’s a good thing, not bad at all! Our people are fighting righteous hypocritical human rights groups for crusading against the war on drugs that brought down criminality rate across the country. To Robredo, that apparently is a bad thing!
She and her ilk shed crocodile tears over the 3,000 drug suspects who could have killed 3,000 police operatives who caught them red-handed selling shabu if the latter had not been quick to defend themselves in the war on drugs. Yet, she was mum about the more than 1 million who were taken in alive because they opted to surrender and confess to their drug trading and drug use in order to be served their right to be rehabilitated.
President Duterte is undeniably unpresidential with his foul mouth but he knows from whence he speaks. It’s a different matter to be completely clueless. VP Leni doesn’t know from whence she speaks.
* * * * *
PATRIOTISM 101. May I suggest a lesson, a song, on patriotism for then Atty. Leni Robredo and others similarly situated to sing and to commit to hear:
Philippines, My Philippines (Makabayang Awitin)
I love my own native land
Philippines, my Philippines
To thee I give my heart and hand
Philippines, my Philippines
the trees that crown thy mountains grand,
the seas that beat upon thy strand
Awake my heart to thy command,
Philippines, my Philippines
Ye islands of the Eastern sea
Philippines, my Philippines
Thy people we shall ever be
Philippines, my Philippines
Our fathers lived and died in thee
And soon shall come the day when we
Lie down with them at God’s decree
Philippines, My Philippines
Yet still beneath thy ardent sky
Philippines, my Philippines
More numerous sons shall live and die
Philippines, my Philippines
In them shall breathe the purpose high
The glorious day to bring more nigh
When all may sing without a sigh
Philippines, My Philippines
I sincerely urge all Filipinos who can’t find it in themselves to take pride in our beloved country, to read a blog on this by Archbishop Oscar Cruz. Check out http://ovc.blogspot.com/2012/05/philippines-my-philippines.html.
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
