Vice President Leni Robredo made a funny reaction to reports of defeated vice presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos‘ distancing himself from Solicitor General Jose Calida.
In a tweet on November 9, Robredo shared a screenshot of a news item and reacted with “lols” or “laughing out loud.”
lols pic.twitter.com/oXk4SOPcwX
— Leni Robredo (@lenirobredo) November 9, 2020
The screenshot was a report about the Office of the Solicitor General filing a motion to support Marcos’ petition to asking Associate Justice Marvic Leonen to inhibit from the poll protest where Marcos’ camp questioned Robredo’s win during the national elections in 2016.
Marcos, however, denied discussing his case with Calida.
In the comments section of Robredo’s tweet, a user praised the supposed social media manager running the account.
Robredo responded with: “Ako po ito,” with a smiling emoji.
ako po ito😊
— Leni Robredo (@lenirobredo) November 9, 2020
Her daughters Tricia, Jillian and Aika Robredo also chimed in with their mother’s usage of the popular internet slang “LOL.”
Lelssss?
— Aika Robredo (@aikarobredo) November 9, 2020
— Jillian Robredo (@jillrobredo) November 9, 2020
Tricia, the second daughter of the vice president, also retweeted the her mother and wrote: “When they go low, we go lols.”
When they go low, we go lols https://t.co/XeXuinyhKw
— Tricia Robredo (@jpgrobredo) November 9, 2020
Other Filipinos, including the vice president’s supporters, were also surprised with her response given that her Facebook and Twitter accounts normally contain updates of her official activities and other official statements.
“I love seeing the Marcoses lose, it’s my daily medicine, my weekly energy, my monthly inspiration and my yearly motivation. Their loss is the only reason I’m still alive, I was born to love and enjoy the failure that they have achieved,” a user wrote.
Some users even called the Robredo matriarch a “kween,” an internet slang for “queen.”
Meanwhile, the vice president’s lawyers Beng Sardillo and Emil Marañon described the late dictator’s son as a “spoiled brat” following the filing of his latest petition.
“May we remind Mr. Marcos that it’s already 2020? This is no longer the period of his father’s reign of terror where they can do anything they want. Stop acting like a spoiled brat who cries when he doesn’t get his candy,” they said in a statement.
The OSG siding with a Filipino citizen
Calida, who supported Marcos’ tandem with President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016, invoked his office’s mandate as the “people’s tribune” anew in his pleading in favor of Marcos, who no longer holds a post in the government.
In 2015, Marcos courted Duterte to run with him in the 2016 elections. However, the president later pursued the presidential bid with then Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano as his running mate.
Meanwhile, under its mandate and functions also posted on its website, the OSG “represents the Government of the Philippines, its agencies and instrumentalities and its officials and agents in any litigation, proceeding, investigation or matter requiring the services of lawyers.”
As a body attached to the Department of Justice, the OSG is the defender of the republic and the People’s Tribune in “securing justice for the nation through excellence in legal advocacy.”
In 2018, Calida also invoked the same mandate when he sided with Marcos during the voting threshold issue, which the Supreme Court sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal sustained in favor of Robredo.
In its current motion, the OSG wrote: “The Filipino electorate has been on edge as regards the real winner in the elections for Vice President. So while the OSG is not technically a party to the present election contest, it filed the Comment on the defined issues as required by the Honorable Tribunal, and, in addition, moves for the inhibition of Justice Leonen.”
Aside from this petition, Calida and lawyer Larry Gadon also previously requested the SC to release copies of Leonen’s wealth declaration. Both of which were also denied.
Calida was supposed to file a quo warranto case, which is the same legal challenge used to oust Maria Lourdes Sereno, against Leonen.
Marcos, in his own urgent plea, accused Leonen of bias toward Robredo’s camp.
