And it’s official!
President Rodrigo Duterte officially swore in Vice President Leni Robredo as his Housing chief on Tue evening at Malacañan Palace.
It may be recalled that the President was initially reluctant to give Vice President Leni Robredo a position in his Cabinet, but our tough-talking leader eventually changed his mind and asked VP Robredo to be the chair of Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) in a phone call that displayed the famous Duterte charm.
The Vice President was accompanied by her three daughters as she took her oath.
There was also a chance meeting with Philippine National Police Director General Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa, who happened to be in Malacañang.
The Vice President’s youngest daughter, Jillian Robredo, pointed out a moving coincidence in her parents’ journey as public servants.
Her late father, Jesse Robredo, took his oath as Interior Secretary before then President Aquino on July 12, 2010, exactly six years before VP Leni was sworn in as President Duterte’s Cabinet member.
According to Vice President Robredo, she was offered to head the HUDCC on the same date that her husband was offered the post of Interior secretary in 2010, Inquirer reports.
“We want to address the 1.4-million housing backlog within our term. We will disrupt and innovate. We will enjoin the private sector to be our partners in providing not just houses, but decent and affordable communities,” she said in a speech at the BusinessWorld Economic Forum earlier that day.
Housing was her husband’s greatest advocacy.
Jesse Robredo was killed in a plane crash in August 2012, while serving as Interior secretary of the then Aquino administration.
