Metro Manila (CNN Philippnes, November 9) – Malacañang on Saturday has called on the public to let Vice President Leni Robredo form her own approach to solve the illegal drug problem of the country.
“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,” Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement.
“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,” Panelo added.
The appeal came after Robredo convened Friday the Inter-Agency Anti-Drugs Committee, of which she is now a co-chairperson.
READ: Robredo accepts anti-drug czar post, vows drug war policy changes
Panelo took Robredo’s initiative as indication that she is open to “suspend all her negative notions about the drug war,” which he claimed are “mostly based on false if not exaggerated information and media hype.”
Panelo then welcomed the willingness of the second highest official of the land to accept Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Aaron Aquino’s offer for her to join the agency’s anti-illegal drug operations to “have a feel” of how law enforcers work on the field. She said she “really likes” Aquino’s idea.
RELATED: Robredo takes on PDEA chief’s challenge to join anti-drug operations
The Vice President has long been a vocal critic of the administration’s anti-illegal drug operations, which— according to government data— have resulted in the killing of at least 6,600 people since President Rodrigo Duterte took office in 2016.
The critical stand, however, led her to accept Duterte’s new appointment—as she promised to implement reforms on the administration’s flagship campaign.
President Rodrigo Duterte vowed as a 2016 presidential candidate that he would solve illegal drugs within three to six months, leading to a deadly campaign.
After three years in office, he admitted that his administration’s war against drugs, which was met with widespread criticisms from rights groups in and out of the country, including the United Nations, has “worsened.” Duterte also faces a complaint before the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity in connection to the drug war.
