By Rene Acosta & Bernadette D. Nicolas
Vice President Ma. Leonor “Leni” Robredo on Wednesday said she would not push herself into the government’s campaign against illegal drugs and would leave if President Duterte will tell her to do so.
This was the reaction of the country’s No. 2 official after she was asked about the President’s statement that he had no trust in her because she had talked too much.
Robredo’s previous meeting with US anti-illegal drugs officials did not sit well with Duterte and some Palace officials, who even indirectly accused the Vice President of “sharing secrets” with “enemies of the country.” The US had been an international partner in the country’s drive against illegal drugs, supporting it with funds, logistics, training and other forms of assistance.
“Dapat diretsuhin na lang ako. Diretso naman akong kausap. Kung ayaw niya ako dito, in the first place, bakit ako in-appoint? Kung ayaw niya na, kung nagkamali siya sa pag-appoint sa akin at gusto niyang bawiin, sabihin lang. Kasi ako, madali akong kausap,” Robredo said.
“Pero habang mayroong ine-expect sa akin na trabaho, gagawin ko iyon,” she added.
The Vice President, who met with officials of the Dangerous Drugs Board on Wednesday, said she always work for something that she believes in, and would not shun from doing it despite the President’s “confusing messages.”
“I believe I can do a lot in the campaign against illegal drugs. I do not make a choice for whatever designation. If he would say this is what you will only do, it would be. But never did I shun from work, no matter how small it is,” she said.
Robredo is confused that while Duterte claimed he had no trust on her, he had also appointed her as cochairman of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (Icad). “I could not also understand, it’s hard to understand that while he had no trust on me, he appointed me. But then again, as I have said, the mere fact that I was given a job, I have to do it wholeheartedly,” she said.
Robredo said that before Duterte held his news briefing on Tuesday night wherein he talked about the issue of trust on Robredo, the Vice President already forwarded a letter to the President wherein she asked a clarification on her mandate as cochairman of the Icad.
She said the letter was prompted by the letter of her cochairman, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Aaron Aquino to President inquiring about the limits on her mandate.
“The other day, we got his response to DG [director general] Aquino, we were copy furnished, but it appeared he was returning to us the task of determining the mandate,” Robredo said.
“So I wrote a letter yesterday wherein I told [him] that we could not be the ones determining it because he is the appointing officer,” she added, admitting that her appointment as cochairman of the Icad was very general.
Bipartisan affair
Meanwhile, De La Salle University Political Science Senior Faculty Member Francisco Magno said Robredo’s appointment to the post was “part of confidence building measures to pursue drug war as a bipartisan affair.”
“The President wants a whole-of-society approach to combat the drug problem and VP Robredo’s good links with civil society and her public health approach to the drug menace would add value to the administration’s centerpiece policy. However, the President is not ready to appoint her to a Cabinet-level post,” Magno said in a text message to the BusinessMirror. While Robredo will not get full access to all the information she needs, Magno said the Vice President can leave the Enforcement Cluster of Icad to her cochairman from PDEA, Aquino.
“She has the expertise to coordinate the Clusters on Justice, Advocacy, and Rehabilitation and Reintegration. These clusters alone require a lot of work,” he said.
“VP Robredo can, therefore, focus on the drug demand reduction side,” he added.
Image credits: AP