Robredo sets ‘one condition’ in SMNI presidential debate: ‘No Usec. Badoy, please’
Is the Vice President avoiding being asked on her close ties with the CPP thru its front groups?
VICE President Leni Robredo has agreed to participate in a ‘presidential debate’ to be hosted by the SMNI (Sonshine Media News International) Channel but on one condition—Presidential Communications Undersecretary Lorraine Marie T. Badoy would not be among the panelists and would not be allowed to field questions at her.
Badoy regularly hosts a program at the SMNI mainly focused on the government’s campaign against the terrorism and deceptions of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its front organizations as spokesperson for New Media and Sectoral Concerns of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
With the start of the campaign season for national positions, most presidential candidates are now regular guests in various news programs, especially Robredo, who has a lot of catching up to do in order to overtake presidential frontrunner, former Sen. Ferdinand ‘Bongbong/BBM’ Marcos Jr.
Despite being a fellow worker in government, Robredo’s condition to censor the presence of Badoy in the debate scheduled this coming February 15, 2022, no longer comes as a surprise; Badoy has issued statements critical of the Vice President after the latter confirmed she would be reviving the peace talks with the CPP– which is no longer the government’s official policy.
In 2017, Pres. Duterte officially terminated the peace talk with the CPP that is being conducted by the government thru its front group, the National Democratic Front (NDF).
Already, the CPP, its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA) and the NDF, have all been designated as “terrorist organizations” by the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) and as a matter of policy, the government does not negotiate with terrorists.
Although Badoy would not comment on Robredo’s “precondition,” it is presumed that Robredo does not want to be asked, in a program broadcasted globally, on why she has entered into an “alliance” with CPP front groups represented by the Makabayan bloc in Congress just to boost her candidacy.
Makabayan has formally endorsed Robredo’s candidacy last January 28, 2022, with Robredo agreeing to accept Neri Colmenares, former Makabayan congressman and a perennial loser in the Senate race, as one of her candidates for the Senate.
With the SMNI’s wide reach, especially in the provinces and abroad, Robredo, sources said, does not want to answer questions relating to her close relationship with CPP front organizations and why she has supported their demands, such as the revival of the peace talk, release of all captured terrorist leaders and the dissolution of the NTF-ELCAC.
Sources added that Robredo does not also want to be asked as regards the disqualification case filed against her in 2013 when she ran and won as a congresswoman for the third district of Camarines Sur under the Liberal Party.
Robredo was accused of accepting campaign donations from foreigners, especially from the United States, which is strictly prohibited under the Constitution and the Omnibus Election Code.
Had the Commission on Elections (Comelec) acted on the complaint and found Robredo guilty, she would have been perpetually barred from participating in any election and would have even landed in jail (see also Pinoy Exposé article of February 2, 2022).
