Among those who went to the former vice president’s house are incumbent Vice President Sara Duterte, Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. and Sen. Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. 

“Pag Peñafrancia dito sa amin, wala naman kulay ng pulitikang tinitingnan,” she said in a chance interview after receiving her guests.

(When it is the Feast of Peñafrancia, we don't look at political colors)

"Walang partido. Politically neutral dito lahat. Lahat ng pumupunta para kay Ina ay welcome dito sa amin,” she said.

(There are no party lines, everyone is politically neutral. All who come for Our Lady of Peñafrancia are welcome)

Robredo explained that her family has been receiving politicians from various political parties during the Feast of the Peñafrancia since the late 1980s when her husband — late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo — first became a local chief executive.

“Mula nung naging mayor ang asawa nung 1988, everytime na may bisita ang Naga na si Ina ang sadya, very much welcome dito sa amin,” she said. 

(Ever since my husband was mayor in 1988, all visitors to Our Lady are welcome)

Duterte’s meeting with Robredo in Naga City on September 20 drew controversy after some supporters questioned why the former vice president entertained her successor who once called her a “fake vice president.”

READ: VP Sara Duterte visits ex-VP Leni Robredo in Naga

TRILLANES CRITICICIZES MOVE

“Ma’am Leni, gusto nga naming ipaimpeach si VP Sara. Tapos binastos pa nyan si Sen. Risa (Hontiveros). Bakit mo pa mineet? Are you siding with her?” former opposition Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV said in a post on X.

(Ma'am Leni, we want VP Sara impeached and she has been disrespectful to Sen. Risa. Why would you meet her? Are you siding with her?)

Robredo, opposition presidential candidate in the 2022 elections, was sidelined during the Rodrigo Duterte administration for her criticism of the government's war on drugs.

She was also targeted by disinformation and trolling during the election campaign  against the UniTeam alliance of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Duterte.

Trillanes said that Vice President Duterte visited Robredo because she “understands the positive optics" of the meeting. 

"Alam ni VP Leni yang agenda na yan and yet she agreed to be part of it anyway. Yan ang mali na kinocall out ko,” the former lawmaker said, claiming also that the meeting had been "arranged and well-coordinated" days in advance.

“Somebody is lying to cover up the political blunder of meeting Sara,” he said.

READ: Aksyon Demokratiko to field Trillanes as Caloocan mayoralty bet in 2025 elections

The Office of the Vice President earlier released a statement saying that a Bicolano friend invited Duterte to visit Bicol during the feast of the Peñafrancia.

“The same friend also arranged a casual meeting with former Vice President Leni Robredo,” the statement read.

“During her stay in Naga, Vice President Duterte visited several prominent Bicol personalities and heard mass with ordinary Bicolanos,” it also read.

Robredo’s camp on Friday released a statement saying that the meeting was not planned in advance.

“Dumiretso sa bahay nang biglaan. Tinanggap niya ng maayos. Nag-usap — hindi tungkol sa pulitika. Kuwentuhan hindi meeting. Umalis. Tapos,” said Barry Gutierrez, Robredo’s spokesperson.

(They went straight to her house. Robredo received them well. They talked — but not about politics. It was a conversation not a meeting. Then she left and that was it.)

Gutierrez, also a former party-list representative for Akbayan, said he may not agree with Duterte's politics but it was correct of Robredo to receive the vice president at her home.

“Di tayo bastos (We are not discourteous),” he said.

The Feast of the Peñafrancia — which is celebrated every third Saturday of September — is one of the biggest religious events in Bicol and is said to be the biggest Marian event in Asia.

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