LP exec: Robredo won’t accept anti-drug post

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo will not accept the offer to lead a drug war that is hinged on killing, an official of the Liberal Party said on Wednesday.

“Bakit tatanggapin ni VP Leni ang alok kung ang gusto pa ring mangyari ng gobyerno ay pumatay nang pumatay?” LP vice president for external affairs Erin Tañada said in a statement.

(Why would VP Leni accept an offer if what the government wants is to continuously kill people?)

“Dahil unang-una, mali ang pumatay. At, ramdam ni VP Leni ang ramdam ng mga biktima ng patayan. Nawalan din ng asawa si VP Leni. Alam niya ang sakit ng namatayan. Alam niya ang pangamba ng iniwan para itaguyod mag-isa ang mga anak. Alam niya ang takot para sa kinabukasan ng pamilya,” he added.

(Because first of all, killing is wrong. And VP Leni knows the feeling of the victims who lost a relative, because she also lost her husband. She knows the pain of being bereaved. She knows the uncertainty of raising a family alone, the fear surrounding a family’s future.)

On Tuesday, President Rodrigo Duterte formally appointed Robredo as co-chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) after he promised to give her his power to enforce law for six months.

But Tañada feared Robredo would just be used  to “cover up” Duterte’s failure to solve the drug problem.

“I believe her spokesperson has spoken. The appointment is vague because she is just a “figure head”. She will be used to cover-up the failure of the President,”  he said in a text message when pressed further on whether his statements were an indication that Robredo would thumb down the offer.

Tañada said passing the administration’s campaign promise to Robredo was an admission of  the failure of its bloody drug war.

“Kaya hindi tatanggapin ni VP Leni ang alok na pumatay para sa huwad na war on drugs. Hindi war on drugs ang nangyayari, kundi war on the poor,” he said in the statement.

(That is why VP Leni will not accept the offer to kill for this fake war on drugs. This is not a war on drugs but a war against the poor.)

“Kasi ang tunay na war on drugs, ginagamot ang mga na-a-adik sa illegal drugs; hinuhuli ang malalaking illegal-drug smugglers at ang mga kasabwat nito sa Customs at sa pulis; makikiusap sa China na hulihin ang mga drug lord nila doon; at papayagan ang independent inquiry ng international community tungkol sa nasabing drug war.”

(If this is a real war on drugs, addicts will be treated, bigtime drug smugglers and their accomplices in Customs and the police; China will also be requested to arrest their drug lords and allow the conduct of an independent inquiry by the international community on so-called drug war.)

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

Duterte earlier dared Robredo to accept the post after the latter criticized the government’s war on drugs.

READ: Robredo: I said reassess – not stop – drug war

Meanwhile, Robredo’s spokesperson Barry Gutierrez said the Vice President has yet to accept the appointment and would give her position on the matter Wednesday.   /muf

READ: Robredo has not yet accepted drug czar post – spokesman