Robredo accepts anti-drug post
Credit to Author: Glee Jalea| Date: Wed, 06 Nov 2019 16:15:06 +0000
Vice President Maria Leonor Robredo on Wednesday accepted President Rodrigo Duterte’s offer to help lead the campaign against illegal drugs, vowing to stop the killing of drug suspects and bring to justice only the guilty.
“Kung ito ang pagkakataon para matigil ang patayan ng mga inosente at mapanagot ang mga kailangang managot, papasanin ko ito (If this is the opportunity to end extrajudicial killings and penalize those who are accountable, I will take the challenge),” Robredo said in a short briefing.
“Hindi laro-laro ang usapang ito. Seryosong usapan ‘pag buhay ang nakataya. Tinatanong nila kung handa ba ako para sa trabahong ito. Ang tanong ko: handa na ba kayo para sa akin? (This issue is not just a joke. It is a serious issue when life is involved. They have been asking if I am ready to take on this job. My question is: Are you ready for me?)” she added.
The President designated Robredo co-chairman of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) weeks after she claimed that the government’s anti-drug campaign was not working.
The Vice President said with her new post, she would be able to give voice to the families of the victims of extrajudicial killings and go after drug lords, not just small drug dealers.
She clarified that she did not criticize the campaign against illegal drugs to snag a post.
“Hindi ko hiniling ito. Sa Pangulo nanggaling ang ideyang ito (I did not ask for this. This is the idea of the President),” she added.
Robredo’s spokesman Barry Gutierrez said that they would be going over the details of the Vice President’s new designation in the next few days.
This would be the second time that Robredo will hold a Cabinet post. She previously led the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council from July to December 2016, but resigned after Duterte ordered her to stop attending Cabinet meetings.
With her acceptance of the ICAD post, Robredo could again attend Cabinet meetings, Malacañang said.
Palace Spokesman Salvador Panelo said the President is ready to help the Vice President fulfill her mandate as co-chairman of the government’s anti-narcotics drive committee.
He added that Robredo’s decision indicated that she was “smarter” than her colleagues in the opposition who doubted Duterte’s job offer.
“It should be good (working relationship between Duterte and Robredo) because there is an appointment and there is an acceptance. So, the appointee and the appointing power are in accord with the position,” Panelo told reporters.
“Kung hinihingi ang tulong ni Presidente, bakit naman hindi siya tutulungan (If she needs the help of the President, why shouldn’t he help her)? Meanwhile, we will let her lead that agency,” he added.
Panelo said Robredo should meet the President to know the “parameters of her power” as drug czar.
“Of course, she will be reporting to the President. The President will be listening to her,” he said.
“She’s welcome. We have a Cabinet meeting today she can even join us,” the Palace official added.
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief Aaron Aquino had said with Robredo’s Cabinet rank, she “can well contribute” particularly in the “rehabilitation and reintegration” of drug users.
Robredo’s decision surprised some lawmakers.
“We are surprised with her change of heart. We wish her well and hope she succeeds in helping solve the menace of drugs, which destroys lives and communities,” Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara said in a statement.
Sen. Francis Tolentino said the new post would enable the Vice President to see the magnitude of the drug problem.
Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go welcomed Robredo’s decision, saying the President’s offer was not a trap.
“I want you to succeed. Unahin natin ang interes ng karamihan, at hopefully ‘yung 82 percent na sumasang-ayon sa drug campaign ni Pangulong Duterte ay madagdagan pa po, ito sana ay maging 90 percent up to 100 percent (Let’s start with the interest of the majority and hopefully the 82 percent that agreed with the drug campaign of President
Duterte will increase to 90 percent up to 100 percent),” Go said in an interview.
But the senator was worried that Robredo would hesitate killing drug lords.
“Ma’am, kung walang bayag ang assistant mo ibulong mo na lang sa amin, kami na po ang papatay sa drug lord (Ma’am, if your assistant has no balls, just whisper to us, we will be the one to kill the drug lord),” Go said.