Vice President Leni Robredo addressed the media on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019, to announce that she is accepting the designation to lead the anti-illegal drug campaign. (Photo by OVP)
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo on Wednesday accepted President Rodrigo Duterte’s offer of a lead role in his brutal war on drugs, even though, she said, she expected his administration would try to make her fail.
Announcing her decision at a news conference, Robredo, 54, said she would use her position as cochair of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs to stop the killings in the President’s crackdown on narcotics and bring the killers to justice.
“Even if we say this offer is playing politics and that agencies will not follow me and they will do everything for me to fail, I am ready to endure all this because if I could save at least one innocent life, my principles and my heart are telling me, I should give this a try,” Robredo said.
Taking a chance
She said she was skeptical about the President’s motives but would take a chance.
“I am against the killings of the innocent, I am against abuses committed by officials. He knows my criticism. He knows what I plan to fix,” Robredo said.
The President appointed Robredo to the interagency committee against illegal drugs on Oct. 31, but Malacañang announced the appointment only on Tuesday.
It came after the President blasted Robredo for saying in an interview with Reuters on Oct. 23 that his war on drugs had overwhelmingly targeted the poor and that police were being allowed to abuse their power.
Robredo said the crackdown was obviously not working, as the drug problem remained prevalent.
The Philippine National Police acknowledges the killing of more than 6,000 mostly poor users and peddlers in antidrug operations, but human rights groups say the real figure could be as high as 20,000.
In the Reuters interview, Robredo said international help, including from the United Nations and the International Criminal Court, should be sought if the government refused to change tack.
Nothing to lose
On Wednesday, she said she had nothing to lose.
“In the end, the most important consideration for me is simple: If this is the chance to stop the killings of the innocent and to bring to account those responsible, I will take upon this challenge,” she said.
“Mr. President, only two and a half years remain in your administration. It’s not too late. We can still work on this together,” she said.
She added: “They are asking me if I am ready for this job? My question is: Are you ready for me?”
Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Robredo would be welcome in the Cabinet.
“Her acceptance shows she is smarter than her colleagues in the opposition,” Panelo said in a text message.
In blasting her for her criticism last month, President Duterte said he would turn over his law enforcement powers to Robredo and make her lead the crackdown as his drug czar.
But her allies noted on Tuesday that her appointment was not as drug czar but as cochair of the interagency committee headed by Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Aaron Aquino.
Her spokesperson, Barry Gutierrez, also said the position mentioned in her appointment was nonexistent, as the executive order that established the committee had no provision for a cochair of the panel.
Panelo said there was no need to amend the executive order to create a position for a cochair of the committee because the President had continuing authority to reorganize the bureaucracy.
Gutierrez also pointed out that the appointment paper sent by Malacañang to the Office of the Vice President did not describe the responsibilities and powers of the committee cochair.
On Wednesday, Panelo, answering reporters’ questions, said the scope of Robredo’s authority and responsibilities would be discussed by the President and the Vice President.
Panelo referred to Robredo as “drug czar” and said she would be “on top” of the government’s crackdown on narcotics.
Equal rank with Aquino
Asked if Robredo and the PDEA’s Aquino were equal in rank on the committee, Panelo replied: “If they are cochair, then they’re the same.”
Aquino was presiding over a meeting of the committee on Wednesday when Robredo announced her acceptance of her appointment as his cochair.
“Everyone was happy,” he said, adding that all agencies on the committee gave assurance that they would support Robredo.
On Monday, Aquino said in a television interview that Robredo would fail as drug czar because she had no experience in law enforcement.
On Wednesday, however, he said he had wanted the Vice President to accept the job so they could “work together” to end the drug problem.
‘How can she fail?’
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the talk that Robredo was being set up to fail should be dismissed.
“How can she fail? She cannot fail on her own. She is a member of the committee, she is cochair. So if all these illegal drug campaigns fail, then it is not her failure alone, it’s the failure of the entire government,” Guevarra said.
He said he expected Robredo to serve in the enforcement cluster that had oversight on actual antidrug operations.
“She’ll probably sit there basically to see what’s going on, to ensure that the campaign is being done in accordance with law,” Guevarra said.
The officer in charge of actual operations, he said, is another presidential appointee — the commander of the National Task Force on Illegal Drugs.
“The Vice President is not being appointed to that position of overall commander. She is being appointed as cochair of the interagency committee and that spells a lot of difference because that includes policy-making as well. That’s where the Vice President can help, being a lawyer,” Guevarra said.
The PNP also welcomed Robredo’s acceptance of her appointment.
“As a member of [the interagency committee], the PNP will extend to her utmost courtesy, cooperation and full support toward the attainment of a drug-free Philippines by 2022,” said Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac, the PNP spokesperson.
Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, the former PNP chief who pursued the drug war at the peak of the killings, said he was optimistic that Robredo would be able to contribute to the effort to eradicate the drug problem.
‘Not bed of roses’
But he warned that deaths could not be avoided in the fight against drugs.
“War is not a bed of roses. You cannot go into it by just looking cute,” he said.
Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, President Duterte’s former longtime aide, said he wanted Robredo to succeed. “We will help you as long as we save the innocent (victims),” he said.
He said, however, that “[w]e need to kill the drug lords.”
In a statement, the Liberal Party, which is headed by Robredo, said that if the Vice President is given the powers she needs, the drug war can become part of the war against poverty.
—Reports from Jhesset O. Enano, DJ Yap, Dona Z. Pazzibugan, Jeannette I. Andrade, Marlon Ramos, Melvin Gascon, Tetch Torres-Tupas and the wires