Vice President Leni Robredo on Sunday allayed fears of the agencies under the Inter-agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs in sharing to her the sensitive information on the drug war.
“We will be transparent as possible so the people would know what is happening, but we will not divulge information that would not be good to the campaign,” Robredo, co-chair of ICAD, said in Filipino.
“I understand what I can’t say to the media. I’m not allowed to talk about it if it is sensitive,” the newly designated drug czar stressed.
During her weekly radio show, Robredo and co-host Ely Saludar discussed the hesitation of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Director-General Aaron Aquino to give her a list of country’s top drug suspects.
Aquino is the co-chair of the ICAD, alongside Robredo. She requested for the classified list of high-value targets during the meeting of the anti-drug body’s law enforcement cluster last week.
In doing her job, Robredo wants to follow a data-driven and evidence-based policy-making, noting the problem of agencies having conflicting data on the drug war.
The Vice President even wrote a letter to ICAD asking for that particular information, but she has not received a response.
Robredo, who is also the leader of opposition, said she can’t fulfill her duties as head of ICAD without the critical information in the campaign against illegal drugs.
The lady official pointed out her primary function under Executive Order No. 15 is to “ensure the effective conduct of anti-illegal drugs operations and arrest of high-value drug personalities.”
“How can I ensure these if they don’t share the information?” Robredo asked. (Raymund Antonio)
