Other candidates have called on Robredo to withdraw from the presidential race, but the vice president is resolute in finishing her campaign.
CLAIM: Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo is giving up on the presidential race.
RATING: False
Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo has not said anything about giving up on the presidential race. And she surely did not in an April 26 video posted on her Facebook account.
In a 50-second clip posted by TikTok user @itswillclemens lifted from a 31-minute video from Robredo’s Facebook, the vice president was shown, saying, “Marami pa. Thirteen days. ‘Di natin kakayanin. E kung more than 24 hours a day, kakayanin natin.”
The clip included a caption superimposed by the user that read, “VP LENI AAYAW NA!”
The TikTok user took Robredo’s statement out of context. In the video, Robredo was explaining how her campaign trail could not cover more areas due to limited schedule, adding, “‘di natin kakayanin” (directly translatable to “we may not be able to,” but in the context of the video, Robredo was saying her camp might not be able to visit more areas).
Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso, in an April 17 press conference with fellow survey laggards Sen. Panfilo Lacson and Norberto Gonzales, called on the vice president to withdraw, claiming Robredo’s camp had been seeking his own withdrawal.
Lawyer Barry Gutierrez, Robredo’s spokesman, tweeted in response to Domagoso’s claim, “K :)” (A shortened “okay” with a smiley face).
Robredo, the only woman presidential candidate, has the best chances of overcoming survey frontrunner Ferdinand Marcos Jr., according to several national surveys. Despite the late strongman’s son’s huge lead, the vice president has never said that she would give up her bid for the presidency.