Malacañang renewed its appeal to the public to allow Vice President Leni Robredo to run the administration’s war against illegal drugs the way she wants to lauding how open she was to their suggestions to join anti-narcotics operations to see the realities on the ground.
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo made the statement following Robredo’s move to convene the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) Friday to make herself aware of the status of the drug war.
In his statement, Panelo said Robredo’s move showed how serious she was in addressing the country’s illegal drugs problem.
“The Vice President called for the meeting to acquaint herself on the status of the government’s campaign against illegal drugs, a step demonstrative of her willingness to suspend all her negative notions about the drug war, mostly based on false if not exaggerated information and media hype,” he said Saturday morning.
Panelo then renewed Malacañang’s appeal to the public to let Robredo do her job despite noticing how different her approach was in dealing with the drug menace.
“Noting that the pronounced policy of the Drug Czar appears to be in direct contrast of what they wrongly perceive to be the bloody strategy of PRRD, the detractors and nitpickers pounce on the apparent strategic contradiction and have raised the specter of, even this early, a collision between the appointee and the appointing power,” he said.
“The Vice President must be given a wide latitude in outlining her own anti-illegal drug scheme and pursue, without interference from other quarter backers, her own agenda which she envisions to be effective in addressing the drug menace,” he added.
“We call on everybody to give VP Leni space, allow her to perform her assigned task and not to create roadblocks and imagined conflicts, pitting her against her fellow workers of government by way of intrigues, as well as wild and off-tangent speculations engineered by the usual suspects,” he continued.
The Palace official also welcomed Robredo’s willingness to join the authorities in their drug raids but reminded the
Vice President that she must not put her own life in danger while doing so. He also expressed hope that with this, Robredo will finally become aware of the dangers that come with the drug war.
“We are pleased to note that VP Leni is open to our suggestion that she oversee – and without putting her life in peril, personally join – any operation by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) or the police against drug lords and pushers,” Panelo said.
“That she may see the hostile and mortal realities on the ground that could pave the way for the reassessment of her previous adversarial position on the government’s relentless drive against prohibited drugs or her adoption of better and effective measures not heretofore done,” he added.
Robredo started her duties as co-chair of the ICAD early this week after being delegated by President Duterte to the position following her remark that the drug war was a failure and needed reassessment. She is to serve as drug czar until 2022. (Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos)
