By Raymund Antonio
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol drew the ire of Vice President Leni Robredo for allegedly throwing an insult at her over a river dredging issue.
“Parang hobby na yata ni Sec. Piñol na insultuhin ako (It looks like it becomes a hobby of Sec. Piñol to insult me),” she said on her Sunday radio show as she cried foul over his remarks.
Vice President Leni Robredo (left); Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol
The Vice President admonished the Cabinet official after the latter talked disparagingly of her on Facebook, where he called her “narrow-minded” for opposing his river dredging project.
“By giving more weight on the possibility of corruption instead of the benefits that the dredging of the rivers will bring, Vice President Robredo has exposed a narrow-minded perspective of how government should work and operate,” he said in a post.
Robredo’s reaction, according to Piñol, left him “dumbfounded and wondering what other options should be considered.”
The agriculture secretary explained that corruption involves people, and not projects or agencies.
“So, the rivers should not be dredged because there could be corruption? The only other option is just to allow the floods to destroy crops and lives every year,” he said.
However, Robredo denied she was against the dredging of the country’s major river systems. She then asked Piñol where did he get his information.
“Hindi ko alam kung bakit siya nagre-react sa isang bagay na hindi naman natin sinabi (I don’t know why he was reacting to something that I did not say),” she said.
The Vice President recalled that she only said desilting projects to dredge waterways were discouraged during the previous Aquino administration because of corruption. She did not explicitly mention Piñol.
“Hindi gaya ng roads, ‘di ba, iyong mga daan, nakikita mo kung na-accomplish. Over the years, at makikita natin iyan sa record, malaki iyong korasyon sa desilting,” she said.
(Unlike the roads, right, you can see what were accomplished. Over the years, and we can see in the record, there is massive corruption on desilting.)
Robredo said this was not the first time Piñol attacked and insulted her. The two had previously found themselves at odds over the issue of rice shortage.
Vice President Leni Robredo (left); Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol
The Vice President admonished the Cabinet official after the latter talked disparagingly of her on Facebook, where he called her “narrow-minded” for opposing his river dredging project.
“By giving more weight on the possibility of corruption instead of the benefits that the dredging of the rivers will bring, Vice President Robredo has exposed a narrow-minded perspective of how government should work and operate,” he said in a post.
Robredo’s reaction, according to Piñol, left him “dumbfounded and wondering what other options should be considered.”
The agriculture secretary explained that corruption involves people, and not projects or agencies.
“So, the rivers should not be dredged because there could be corruption? The only other option is just to allow the floods to destroy crops and lives every year,” he said.
However, Robredo denied she was against the dredging of the country’s major river systems. She then asked Piñol where did he get his information.
“Hindi ko alam kung bakit siya nagre-react sa isang bagay na hindi naman natin sinabi (I don’t know why he was reacting to something that I did not say),” she said.
The Vice President recalled that she only said desilting projects to dredge waterways were discouraged during the previous Aquino administration because of corruption. She did not explicitly mention Piñol.
“Hindi gaya ng roads, ‘di ba, iyong mga daan, nakikita mo kung na-accomplish. Over the years, at makikita natin iyan sa record, malaki iyong korasyon sa desilting,” she said.
(Unlike the roads, right, you can see what were accomplished. Over the years, and we can see in the record, there is massive corruption on desilting.)
Robredo said this was not the first time Piñol attacked and insulted her. The two had previously found themselves at odds over the issue of rice shortage.