Leni Robredo

Leni Robredo
Official portrait, 2016
14th Vice President of the Philippines
In office
June 30, 2016 – June 30, 2022
PresidentRodrigo Duterte
Preceded byJejomar Binay
Succeeded bySara Duterte
Co-Chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs
In office
November 6, 2019 – November 24, 2019
Serving with Aaron Aquino
PresidentRodrigo Duterte
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byDante Jimenez
Chairperson of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council
In office
July 12, 2016 – December 5, 2016
PresidentRodrigo Duterte
Preceded byChito Cruz
Succeeded byLeoncio Evasco Jr.
Member of the House of Representatives from Camarines Sur's 3rd district
In office
June 30, 2013 – June 30, 2016
Preceded byLuis Villafuerte
Succeeded byGabriel Bordado
Chairperson of the Liberal Party
In office
August 10, 2017 – June 30, 2022
PresidentFrancis Pangilinan
Preceded byBenigno Aquino III
Succeeded byFrancis Pangilinan
Personal details
Born
Maria Leonor Santo Tomas Gerona

(1965-04-23) April 23, 1965 (age 58)
Naga, Camarines Sur, Philippines
Political partyLiberal
Spouse
(m. 1987; died 2012)
Children3
ResidenceNaga, Camarines Sur
Alma materUniversity of the Philippines Diliman (BA)
University of Nueva Caceres (LL.B)
OccupationLawyer
Social activist
Economist
Founder and chairperson of Angat Buhay (2022–)
Signature
WebsiteCampaign website

Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo (Tagalog: [ˈlɛnɪ ɾɔˈbrɛdɔ]; née Gerona; born April 23, 1965) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 14th vice president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. She previously served as the representative of the 3rd district of Camarines Sur from 2013 to 2016.

Robredo narrowly defeated Bongbong Marcos, the son of the ousted dictator and kleptocrat Ferdinand Marcos, in the contested 2016 vice presidential election. After an electoral protest by Bongbong Marcos, the Presidential Electoral Tribunal found no signs of fraud and her lead was slightly widened. She is the second woman to serve as vice president of the Philippines, after Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and the first vice president from the Bicol Region.

Robredo has spearheaded multiple programs in the Office of the Vice President (OVP); her flagship anti-poverty program, Angat Buhay (lit.'Uplifting Lives'), has helped address key areas including education, rural development, and healthcare, in partnership with more than 300 organizations. During the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, the OVP under Robredo responded by providing free shuttle services for frontline workers, swab tests, telehealth services, and raised funds for relief operations across the country. Robredo was awarded by the government of Thailand in 2016 for her work and advocacy in women's empowerment and gender equality.[1] Under her leadership, the OVP also received the ISO 9001: 2015 certification for the office's quality management systems.[2][3]

During her vice presidency, she served as the chair of the Liberal Party and de facto leader of the opposition to President Rodrigo Duterte's administration, where she was appointed by Duterte and briefly served as the chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and the co-chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs. She has received backlash from government supporters for her being staunchly critical to Duterte's policies such as the war on drugs,[4] counter-insurgency initiatives,[5] COVID-19 pandemic response,[6] and soft stance toward China.[7] She has been a constant target of disinformation, with many articles making false claims about her personal life to discredit her.[8]

Robredo announced her presidential campaign in the 2022 presidential elections with Liberal Party leader and Senator Francis Pangilinan as her running mate.[9] However, she widely lost the election to Bongbong Marcos.[10][11]

  1. ^ "COA gives OVP highest audit rating for third successive year". June 29, 2021. Archived from the original on September 1, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  2. ^ Lalu, Gabriel Pabico (February 8, 2021). "OVP gets ISO recertification for quality management system". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on September 1, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  3. ^ "Robredo receives ISO 9001:2015 quality certificate for OVP". Manila Bulletin. February 8, 2021. Archived from the original on February 14, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  4. ^ Cepeda, Mara (January 6, 2020). "'1 over 100': Robredo calls Duterte's drug war a 'failure'". Rappler. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  5. ^ Cepeda, Mara (November 9, 2021). "Robredo wants to abolish Duterte's notorious anti-insurgency group". Rappler. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  6. ^ Cepeda, Mara (September 3, 2021). "Robredo tempted to tell Duterte: Just let me handle pandemic response". Rappler. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  7. ^ Cepeda, Mara (July 12, 2021). "Robredo laments Duterte admin's 'cowardice' in defending West PH Sea vs China". Rappler. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :11 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Robredo to run for President as an independent". BusinessWorld. October 7, 2021. Archived from the original on May 28, 2022. Retrieved May 28, 2022. The opposition leader, who heads the Liberal Party, will run as an independent candidate, the Commission on Elections tweeted.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBMisPresident was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "Final, official tally: Marcos, Duterte on top with over 31M votes each". Manila Bulletin. May 25, 2022. Archived from the original on May 25, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2022.