A Facebook reel shows former vice president Leni Robredo supposedly expressing her support for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. This is misleading.
To the contrary, Robredo was taking a swipe at then-presidential candidate Marcos for his repeated absences in televised debates. The clip was extracted from the video of a public debate among contenders in the 2022 presidential elections.
Uploaded on April 16, the video interlaced an audio of Robredo saying that true leaders show up in the most difficult situations as photos of Marcos visiting disaster-stricken areas were flashing on the screen. It bore a superimposed text saying:
“Thank you Leni for supporting President Marcos.”
Its caption also read: “Thank you Naga City Mayor Leni Robredo! đ #MarcosPaRin.”
The original video was from a presidential debate organized by CNN Philippines for the 2022 national elections. When asked about the importance of debates, Robredo said at the 1:42:07 mark:
“‘Yung No. 1 ingredient din ng leadership aside from character is you show up in the most difficult times. ‘Pag hindi ka mag-show up in the most difficult times, hindi ka leader. So kahit mahirap, kailangan nandyan ka. Kailangan kaya mong harapin ‘yung mga itatanong tungkol sa iyo. Kailangang kaya mong masagot kung ano ‘yung issues laban sa iyo, hindi ka magtatago.”
(The number one ingredient of leadership aside from character is you show up in the most difficult times. If you don’t show up in the most difficult times, you’re not a leader. Even if it’s hard, you have to be there. You need to be able to answer what will be asked of you. You have to answer the issues against you, you don’t hide.)
Marcos, Robredo’s closest rival in that election, was absent in the debate.
The post also incorrectly referred to Robredo as Naga City mayor. The former vice president is running for the position, but winners in the 2025 May polls have yet to be announced as of writing.
Uploaded by FB page Unofficial PBBM News (created July 22, 2024), the reel has so far received over 10,000 views and 600 interactions.
