QUEZON CITY, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo said she was extremely surprised and disappointed at the inclusion of Senator Leila de Lima among TIME Magazine’s 2017 100 Most Influential Persons.

De Lima, who was not even among the candidates in the magazine’s online poll, made it to the final list, along with President Rodrigo Duterte.  Duterte topped the online poll, gaining 5% of the total votes to take the No. 1 spot.

“What were the TIME editors thinking,” Robredo asked.

When sought for commment and clarification about Robredo’s statement, her spokesperson Georgina Hernandez admitted to The Adobo Chronicles that the Vice President was hoping she would be included in the list, not de Lima.

“The Vice President has gone all out to influence the world’s perception of Duterte, issuing statements left and right and even recording a video message to a United Nations conference criticizing Duterte’s war on drugs,” Hernandez said. “I guess the TIME editors didn’t quite take notice.  Perhaps, our propaganda campaign wasn’t as successful as we had hoped.”

Well, there’s always next year.