MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Leni Robredo on Thursday deplored alleged efforts of some politicians to exploit the “personal” problems of Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairperson Andy Bautista and link it to the 2016 elections.
“Tingin ko pilit na lang na ina-associate iyong kaso namin [I think that they are trying hard to associate it with our case], which is unfortunate,” she said during a press conference on Thursday in Naga City for a biking event dubbed “Freedom Cycle: Pedal Like Jesse,” which was organized by FNF Philippines, the Office of the Vice President, Naga City local government, and Kaya Natin! Movement.
Robredo and Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., her 2016 vice presidential rival, are locked up in a legal battle. Marcos is questioning before the court the results of last year’s election that was won by Robredo with about 260,000 votes ahead of the former senator, which prompted Robredo to file a counter-poll protest case against the son and namesake of the late strongman.
Marcos indicated last year that a possible conspiracy between the Comelec under Bautista and the then ruling Liberal Party might have taken place to allegedly manipulate the results of the May 2016 elections.
On Thursday, Robredo argued that the issues being hurled against Bautista had nothing to do with last year’s polls and that it saddened her that Bautista’s personal predicament was apparently being used by some politicians to serve their own interests.
“Iyong problema wala namang kinalaman sa eleksyon. Pero kaya siya nakakalungkot kasi iyong dapat na pribadong problema, parang ginagamit na ng ibang pulitiko to further their ends,” the Vice President said.
“Ayaw ko nang dagdagan pa kasi wala naman itong kinalaman doon sa eleksyon. Iyong away mag-asawa, dapat sana sine-settle in the privacy of, ‘di ba, of their home. Pero tingin ko nagagamit sa pulitika, pero ayaw na nating patulan,” she added.
[I no longer want to add to the problem because it has nothing to do with the elections. A couple should have settled their problems in the privacy of their home. But I think their problem is being used in politics, but I don’t want to engaged with that anymore.]
Two weeks ago, Bautista’s wife, Patricia, went to the press and claimed she had stumbled on evidence of alleged wrongdoing by her husband: dozens of bank accounts, gift-wrapped cash and alleged evidence he was keeping ghost employees.
InterAksyon.com earlier reported that some conspiracy theorists said Marcos or his camp might have encouraged Patricia to bring down her husband in order to taint as well the outcome of the 2016 elections, where Marcos had alleged fraud. He has a pending electoral protest against Vice President Leni Robredo, who beat him by 200,000 votes.
In an interview at the House of Representatives last week, Marcos denied any hand in the marital spat.
“Hindi kami nakikialam sa mag-asawa [We don’t meddle with the affairs of the couple],” he had said. He also said that his wife, lawyer Liza Araneta-Marcos, did not help Patricia Bautista get an appointment with President Rodrigo Duterte to complain about her husband’s alleged ill-gotten wealth worth nearly P1 billion.
