Vice President Leni Robredo, along with her daughters Jessica Marie “Aika,” Janine Patricia “Tricia,” and Jillian Therese, attended President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s third State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the House of Representatives in Quezon City on Monday, July 23, 2018. OVP/ Handout file photo
MANILA - Vice President Leni Robredo on Thursday came to the defense of her daughters after Presidential spokesman Harry Roque criticized their tweets that allegedly pertained to President Rodrigo Duterte.
Roque earlier was asked to explain Duterte's claim that Robredo did nothing to address the aftermath of Typhoon Ulysses' onslaught in the country and propagated the viral hashtag #NasaanAngPangulo, which literally means "Where is the President".
But Roque did not directly answer the issue and alleged that Robredo's overnight tweets giving updates on rescue operations in Cagayan Valley, which was besieged by raging floods caused by Ulysses and the northeastern monsoon, implied the Vice President alone acted to help the typhoon-hit residents.
"Mali naman iyong impresyon na ibinigay natin na kung hindi dahil kay Vice President, baka hindi gumalaw itong mga ito—Hindi po," he told reporters.
Roque then pointed out Robredo's daughter Tricia tweeting, "Tulog pa rin? Alas otso na" (Still asleep? It's already 8 a.m.) and that her sister Aika replied "Sabado eh. Weekend" (It's Saturday, a weekend).
The tweets did not name anybody, but Roque also claimed that it pertained to Duterte.
Robredo said in a Facebook post Thursday that she has always been proud of her daughters, their hard work and accomplishments.
"They never used our name or whatever little influence we have to get what they want. They’re all adults now," she said.
"They’re not in government. They are not politicians and they don’t plan to be. Totoo, they’re outspoken and rightfully so. We have trained them to stand up for themselves and what they believe in," Robredo emphasized.
Her spokesman Barry Gutierrez slammed Roque's statements, saying Ulysses killed at least 69 people, displaced 325,000 others, and left billions in damage but the government was "spending it's time analyzing analyzing tweets" by the Vice President's daughters.
"Si VP Leni balik agad trabaho. Kayo tatlong araw na ito pa rin ang hanash. Sino nga uli ang namumulitika?" he tweeted.
(VP Leni returned to work immediately. It has been 3 days, but you are still talking about this. Who is politicking?)
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