Claim: Malou Tiquia claims that Vice President Leni Robredo puts the Philippines down abroad. She cites that the VP spreads lies about Duterte’s War on Drugs. Tiquia also claimed that Robredo never collaborated with the incumbent president.
Rating: FALSE
The Facts: On February 2017, Vice President Leni Robredo delivered a message to the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs for its 60th annual meeting mentioning the situation under the Duterte’s War on Drugs. The VP was also appointed by the President as the head of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC).
Why we fact-checked this: Malou Tiquia, the founder and CEO of Publicus Asia, Inc., published a reply on a tweet that has the potential to malign other national political candidates due to bad information. As of writing, Tiquia’s tweet has 511 likes, 155 retweets, and 38 replies.
Ma. Lourdes “Malou” N. Tiquia is a veteran lobbyist and political strategist in the Philippines. On February 15, she replied to a tweet from a certain Sysiaco (@ansj64) that asks why one should not vote for Leni as President. Tiquia replied, “No. Because she put down my country abroad with lies and never really collaborated with incumbent president when given a chance.”
On March 14, 2017, Vice President Leni Robredo delivered a speech to the 60th UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs annual meeting. Robredo expressed the existence of extra-judicial killings under the Duterte’s War on Drugs. According to the human rights watchdog, Human Rights Watch, it says, “Since taking office on June 30, 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte has carried out a “war on drugs” that led to the deaths of over 12,000 Filipinos to date, mostly urban poor. At least 2,555 of the killings have been attributed to the Philippine National Police. Duterte and other senior officials have instigated and incited the killings in a campaign that could amount to crimes against humanity.” [https://www.hrw.org/tag/Philippines-war-drugs] The Philippine drug war drew flak from various human rights groups nationwide.
In a video released by Rappler on July 7, 2016, Duterte called Robredo to offer the leadership of HUDCC on a press conference.
Robredo then accepted the position but was informed by Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco, Jr. to desist from attending all Cabinet meetings starting December 5, 2016.
On November 4, 2019, Duterte appointed Robredo to be a co-chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) but the President fired Robredo 19 days after. In a press conference, Robredo stated that the ICAD could have been more efficient if the President had its full support on its mandate and recommendations. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Si_gBUnJH8]
Malou Tiquia’s claim is FALSE.
Malou Tiquia is openly supporting the vice presidential bid of Davao Mayor Inday Sara Duterte.
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