A certain Facebook user posted a meme with a photo of Vice President Leni Robredo and a statement purporting her to be urging President Rodrigo Duterte to leave the presidency to her.
Arsenio Antonio uploaded the meme on June 18 and it has since been shared 165 times, as of writing. Based on his posts, he is a supporter of former Senator Bongbong Marcos and a critic of Robredo.
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The meme Antonio posted showed Robredo allegedly saying this:
“I think Pres. Duterte cannot lead anymore the best thing for him to do is let go the Presidency and i will fix all the mess his administration did.
Simula at sapul nakita naman natin na hindi niya kaya ang pagiging Presidente. why don’t he leave it to the expert. Aayusin ko ang gulo na ginawa ng kanyang Administrasyon. Sa tulong ng aking Partido ipagpatuloy namin ang nasimulang DAAN MATUWID ng Kagalang-galang na Pres. Benigno Aquino III.”
Antonio’s caption over the meme showed that he seemed to buy what the meme is claiming.
“WTF??? ARE THIS PEOPLE REALLY SICK TO THE BONE? I WONT WONDER HAVING THIS THOUGHT ON DUTERTE.!!! LONG LIVE OUR LOVING PRESIDENT DIGONG!! –AA,” he wrote.
If you have noticed, the statement in the meme that allegedly came from Robredo about her preparedness to replace Duterte and lead the country is full of grammatical errors, lacks proper punctuation marks, and does not use proper capitalization.
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But what’s more important is that Robredo did not say such statement.
Time and time again, Robredo has repeatedly said that she has no desire to become president.
On March 23, she said that speaking out against some of the Duterte administration’s policies does not necessarily mean that she wants to become the president.
“Iyong ating pagpapahayag ng pagkontra sa mga polisiya ng gobyerno, hindi po ‘yun nangangahulugan na gusto nating agawin ang posisyon. Wala po tayong gano’n na pangarap. Ang gusto lamang natin ay mapakinggan ang ating mga boses. Ang gusto lang natin ay pakinggan ang ating mga hinaing para may pagbabagong magawa,” she said when a multi-sectoral group visited her office on that day, as quoted by GMA News Online.
On January 9, she denied being part of what was then dubbed as #LeniLeaks, which exposed a Yahoo Group called Global Filipino Diaspora Council (GFDC)’s correspondence to allegedly undermine Duterte. Some of the group members are Robredo’s supporters, but she maintained that she was not involved in any effort to oust Duterte and would focus on her work instead.
On December 9, 2016, Robredo told reporters during a brief interview that she is not interested in the highest position in the country.
“Wala naman akong interes na mag-pangulo. I just want this administration to succeed pero mahalaga na pakinggan din nila ang dissenting voices,” she said.
We also went through some of Antonio’s Facebook posts and found that the fake meme about Robredo was not the first fake thing he posted on his page. He posted this fake report about Robredo vowing to resign if Duterte wins as president, which is actually a satirical article; the late Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago saying her last words as warning to not trust Robredo; and this fake meme, too, about Robredo being allegedly the “most hated Vice President” in the Guinness World Records.
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