Daughters of Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo were dragged into the #NasaanAngPangulo fracas by President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesman in a televised briefing on Thursday.
“Hindi po nakakatulong na bagama’t hindi ko alam kung talagang nagsabi si vice president kung nasaan si presidente, eh tingnan ninyo ito, kung hindi man siya eh mayroong mga malapit sa kaniya na nagsabi ‘no. Ito o, makita ninyo ‘no, unang-una iyong tweets ng mga malapit sa kaniya ‘no, iyong sarili niyang mga anak,” Roque said.
In explaining what could have caused Duterte’s outburst over the viral hashtag, Palace spokesman Harry Roque flashed a Twitter exchange between Robredo’s daughters, Aika and Tricia.
Tricia wrote, “Tulog pa rin? Alas otso na,” to which Aika responded, “Sabado eh. Weekend.”
Sabado eh. Weekend.
— Aika Robredo (@aikarobredo) November 14, 2020
The two did not mention Duterte, nor use the #NasaanAngPangulo hashtag.
Roque also flashed a Philstar story about statements of Robredo’s spokesman, Barry Gutierre, wherein he said government officials should be seen and felt amid national disasters.
Duterte’s spokesman also flashed the vice president’s tweets on rescue and relief operations in Cagayan as the #CagayanNeedsOurHelp hashtag trended on social media.
“Iyon po ‘yung konteksto – nasaan si presidente, mga tweets na nanggaling… sa anak niya… tapos iyong kaniyang asta na kung hindi dahil sa kaniya eh parang hindi gagalaw ang gobyerno. Hindi po totoo iyon. Talaga pong wala pa iyong bagyo, naroon na po iyong ating mga kasundaluhan, iyong ating mga kapulisan, iyong ating NDRRMC at iyong paghahanda ng ating mga lokal na pamahalaan. To be fair, handa naman po ang mga taong-gobyerno,” Roque said.
After the briefing, Gutierrez took to Twitter to point out how Duterte’s administration focuses on petty issues.
“Good lord, 69 Filipinos killed, 325,000 displaced, over P1.5B in damages, and this administration is now spending it’s time analyzing TWEETS by VP Leni’s daughters?! Si VP Leni balik agad trabaho. Kayo tatlong araw na ito pa rin ang hanash. Sino nga uli ang namumulitika?” he wrote. John Ezekiel J. Hirro