Philippine vice-president resigns, promises to lead opposition to Duterte policies
This is not the time for fear. It is a time for conviction. It is a time for courage
The announcement, which came a day after she quit Duterte’s cabinet, makes her the highest-ranking official to publicly voice such firm dissent to the president’s hardline law-and-order platform.
“This is not the time for fear. It is a time for conviction. It is a time for courage,” Robredo, a lawyer, told reporters. Robredo, 51, resigned from Duterte’s cabinet after a top presidential aide told her over the weekend she had been banned from its meetings. Duterte on Monday accepted her resignation.
The president and vice president are elected separately in the Philippines, and the current pair belong to rival parties.
Robredo accepted a post as a housing czar after Duterte took office on June 30, following a tradition in which the vice president is given a cabinet position regardless of political affiliation.
Robredo, 51, cited the Marcos burial as one issue on which she would be a “stronger voice” now she had quit Duterte’s cabinet.
She also highlighted Duterte’s drugs war, which has claimed more than 4,800 lives and led to accusations that the government is overseeing widespread extrajudicial killings.