Sotto urges Robredo to accept antidrug post; it’s ‘baloney’ to call drug war a failure

MANILA, Philippines— Vice President Leni Robredo should accept the anti-drug post so she and her allies would realize that the war on drugs could not be stopped.

On Tuesday, Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III joined some of his colleagues in urging Robredo to accept her appointment as co-chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD).

READ: Duterte appoints Robredo co-chair of gov’t committee vs illegal drugs

“Good, so the VP can see for herself why the war on drugs cannot be stopped!” Sotto said in a statement to reporters.

Whether Robredo would deliver or not, “the point is for her and her advisers to realize that the war on drugs cannot be stopped,” the Senate leader added.

In a separate interview on DZMM, Sotto said it would be good if Robredo would accept the post.

“Ang maganda nun tanggapin sana sapagkat para once and for all ma-realize nila na itong problema ng illegal drugs e matindi pala at matigil na yang kasasabi nila na itigil yung war on drugs,” he said.

(It would be better if she accepts it so that they would realize once and for that the drug problem is so difficult to tackle and  that calls to stop the war on drugs should be put aside.)

The Senate leader noted that the fight against illegal drugs is an ongoing struggle since the 1980s.

“This is the only complex crime in the world, kaya hindi ganun kadali ito (so this is not that easy). Ito lang yung krimen na (This is the only crime where) the victim is a criminal and the criminal is a victim,” he pointed out.

Robredo and allies drew sharp criticisms from Sotto when they claimed that the government’s drug war was a failure.

“That’s baloney…That’s a statement of people who don’t understand the problem,” he said.

It was President Rodrigo Duterte himself who offered Robredo to lead the drug war after she criticized it.

READ: Duterte dares Robredo: Lead drug war

Robredo said the government’s drive against illegal drugs was not working as shown by the growing number of drug addicts in the country.