Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 1) — Vice President Leni Robredo said she should be egged on to run for president by people who hate her, in response to President Rodrigo Duterte’s call for her not to run for the highest post in 2022.

“Kung galit sa akin, mas mabuti ngang sabihin, ‘Sige, kumandidato ka para matalo ka.’ Pero ito, talagang pinipigilan tayo,” Robredo said Sunday on her radio program.

[Translation: If you’re really mad at me, it’s better to say, ‘Go ahead, run so that you can lose.’ But here, we’re being discouraged.]

Robredo, however, reiterated that the 2022 elections are still far away and that the drug problem needs to be addressed “as promised.”

READ: From ‘three to six months’ to three years: Drugs, corruption still among Duterte’s woes

“Hindi pa nga naaayos [ang drugs,] iniisip na naman natin iyong susunod na eleksyon. Malayo pa iyong susunod na eleksyon. Marami pang puwedeng mangyari,” she said.

[Translation: We haven’t fixed the drug problem, but we’re already thinking of the next election. That’s still far away. A lot of things can still happen.]

She added that she does not think that she is being dissuaded from running for president because the administration is afraid of her.

“Ang dami-dami nila; nag-iisa ako. Wala naman akong kapangyarihan. Sila iyong... nasa kanila iyong lahat na kapangyarihan, marami sila. Hindi ko alam kung bakit matatakot sa akin,” she said.

[Translation: They outnumber me, I’m just one person. I don’t have any power. They have all the powers, they’re so many. I don’t know why they should be afraid of me.]

Duterte, in a speech during Bonifacio Day rites on Saturday, said he is not afraid of Robredo.

Speaking exclusively to CNN Philippines on Friday, Duterte stood firm against Robredo’s possible presidential run.

“'Vice, vice' wala naman utak, puro porma,” he said. “Leni, look... ’Wag kang tumakbo ng presidente. Wala ka talagang alam,” Duterte addressed Robredo.

[Translation: You are the Vice [President] but you have no brains, you’re just for show. Do not run for President. You do not know anything.]

Duterte fired Robredo as co-chair of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs just 19 days after he appointed her due to her meetings with foreign bodies.