Extortion Issue on VFA, Pres. Duterte Hits VP Robredo Anew “You do not know your role in government”

Another round for President Rodrigo Duterte to criticize against Vice President Leni Robredo. This time the issue is about Robredo’s statement that asking the US to pay to retain the Visiting Forces Agreement is a form of “extortion.”

In the weekly address of President Duterte, he said Robredo should stop commenting on the issue about the Visiting Forces Agreement because she did not know how much the US owed in the country.

“Itong kay Robredo, sabi ko nga ma’am, kung ikaw ang presidente, hindi mo alam ang trabaho mo, dapat alam mo ‘yan kasi abogado ka. You should not open your mouth when we are negotiating because maraming kasalanan ang Amerika sa atin,” Duterte said.

For several times President Duterte mentioned that Robredo is unfit to be president, and he reiterated it again in his speech.

“I’m sorry to say, you are not really qualified to run for president. You do not know your role in this government… Foreign relations with other countries is vested on the president alone,” he said.

On the other hand, , Robredo criticized Duterte’s pronouncement in his speech last week on her radio show on Sunday that US responsibility in the VFA “does not come free.”

“Parang extortion lang. Parang kriminal eh, kung gusto mo nito magbayad ka muna,” Robredo said.

“Every time she opens her mouth…she forgets that she’s a lawyer. And being a lawyer, she should know that the Constitution says that…that is my function. That is not her function. At kung anong gusto kong sabihin para sa aking bayan, may purpose ‘yan. Hindi kasi nila alam (And what I want to say for my country has a purpose. They don’t know that),” Duterte said.

According to the President, Subic was gradually turned into an American base. But no details about what he main to be, only he said that he received reports from the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

In a similar report on Monday, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque clarified that the government was not extorting money from the US. “Sa mga nagsasabing extortion, hindi po iyan extortion. ‘Yan po ay pagtaguyod ng national na interes ng mga Pilipino, at dahil marami po tayong gastusin lalong lalo na sa COVID-19, bakit di tayo sumingil?” Roque said.