Robredo says Marcos issue nonnegotiable

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FORMER PRESIDENT FERDINAND E. MARCOS — BW FILE PHOTO

By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter

Vice-President Maria Leonor “Leni” G. Robredo on Friday said Francisco “Isko” M. Domagoso’s soft stance on the Marcoses had pushed her to run against the Manila mayor in the elections next year.

“The Marcoses are a nonnegotiable [issue] for me,” she told reporters.

Ms. Robredo said communication lines with other candidates outside the ruling party remained open, but she would no longer pursue unity talks with them.

“I was really exerting a lot of effort to unify many different personalities but there’s a limit,” she added.

Mr. Domagoso earlier said the family of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos should be allowed to redeem themselves, more than three decades after he was ousted by a popular street uprising.

The Manila chief, whose rags-to-riches story has captivated many Filipinos, said he had admired Mr. Marcos at some point.

“So that’s the only reason why she’s running?” Mr. Domagoso asked at a party event, a video of which was uploaded on PTV-4’s Facebook page. He added that the lives of Filipinos need not revolve on the quarrel between the Marcos and Aquino families.

Ms. Robredo said she was worried about splitting the votes with other opposition candidates, but she trusts that voters would know that her tandem with Senator Francis “Kiko” N. Pangilinan is the genuine opposition.

Mr. Pangilinan filed his certificate of candidacy for vice-president on Friday.

“I am not too concerned anymore. You can see that we are the true opposition,” said Ms. Robredo, who had opposed the Duterte administration’s war on drugs and ties with China.

“No tandem is similar to us in the sense that we have been fighting from the start,” she added. — with Bianca Angelica D. Anago