ACT-Teachers rep.: ‘Leni was treated as opposition member from the start’

By Ellson Quismorio

She was treated as part of the opposition by President Rodrigo Duterte from the start, anyway.

ACT-Teachers Party-List Rep. Antonio Tinio had this to say Thursday about Vice President Leni Robredo, who earlier this week declared that she would lead the opposition against the administration.

ACT-Teachers Partylist Representative Antonio Tinio  (ALVIN KASIBAN/MANILA BULLETIN)

“It’s about time na tumindig siya bilang oposisyon (that she took a stand as opposition),” Tinio said of Robredo, who chairs the Liberal Party (LP).

“Sa simula palang ng administrasyong ito, tinrato na siya bilang oposisyon ni Pangulong Duterte. Kung matatandaan natin tinanggal siya sa Gabinete (From the start of this administration, President Duterte has treated her as part of the opposition. If we can recall, she was removed from the Cabinet),” the leftist solon said.

Robredo actually resigned from the Duterte Cabinet in December 2016 as Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) chair, but the feeling was that she wasn’t welcome anymore since Cabinet Secretary Jun Evasco told her via text to “desist from attending all Cabinet meetings.”

Fast forward to July 2018, and the highest-elected LP stalwart in government appears ready to take on the title of opposition leader.

“Positive development yun (That’s a positive development),” said Tinio, who with his six fellow Makabayan bloc members broke off from the pro-Duterte supermajority faction in the House of Representatives in September 2017.

They have been consistently criticizing the administration ever since as an independent bloc.