President Rodrigo Duterte has said he would not resign and allow Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo to succeed him, calling her “incompetent.”
“She becomes president? Look, I will not resign because it will make her president. My resignation is addressed to the people so they can choose whoever they want. I don’t think she can ever be ready to govern my country. Reason? Incompetence,” Duterte told reporters after a speaking engagement in Pampanga.
Duterte reversed himself after saying last week he was willing to step down as president once a new constitution was in place, and that Robredo could replace him.
Duterte said of Robredo: “She is not capable of running a country like this – the Philippines.”
Earlier Robredo said she was willing to lead a united opposition two years after assuming office.
Robredo said a number of groups who shared her causes and advocacies had reached out to her.
“Aside from political parties, there are other movements that share similar causes such as fighting dictatorship and policies that I don’t agree with, namely: extrajudicial killings and the anti-loitering drive which both affect the poor badly, the federalism caravan that uses government funds but does not address poverty. But these voices of dissent are not consolidated. I want to ensure that such voice is united, and that is the role I want to take,” Robredo said in a news conference.
“There are ongoing consultations and we are threshing out the terms of uniting the opposition. We in the opposition need to be united so we can be heard, so we can send the message, so that message can be understood,” Robredo added.
The vice president, chairman of the Liberal Party (LP), also said forming a united opposition should include fielding a united slate for the 2019 polls.
Rep. Antonio Tinio of Alliance of Concerned Teachers party-list welcomed Robredo’s position, noting that the Makabayan bloc of militant lawmakers was already a member of the Movement Against Tyranny, which protests extrajudicial and drug-war killings, human rights violations and charter change, as well as the Coalition for Justice that opposed the removal of Maria Lourdes Sereno as chief justice via a quo warranto petition.
Robredo also disclosed on Tuesday that she had reached out to Sereno about a possible 2019 Senate run. But Sereno remains undecided, she said.
“We were able to talk lengthily for the first time recently, and I told her that there are people who are nominating her in the opposition’s Senate slate. But she is yet to decide on it. She had a lot of questions. I was able to provide the answers to some of her queries, but not all,” Robredo said. Malacanang on Tuesday said the move of Robredo was “hardly surprising,” being the highest elected member of the Liberal Party.
“The Palace believes that an active opposition has a vital role to play in a healthy, well-functioning democracy,” Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr said.
“Having said this, we expect that the opposition movement would promote responsible and constructive debate to push the national conversation to a higher level of political maturity,” 
Roque said.