MANILA, Philippines — The appointment of Vice President Leni Robredo as the administration’s drug czar is not a Cabinet post, President Rodrigo Duterte has clarified.
“She is not a member of the Cabinet. I have not appointed her as a Cabinet member,” Duterte said in an exclusive interview with GMA-7 aired Monday on 24 Oras.
“The post she was appointed to is not a Cabinet-level,” presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo also said in a text message to reporters.
“The discretion to appoint her as a member of the Cabinet in addition to her appointment as the anti-illegal drug czar lies with the President,” Panelo added.
Duterte appointed Robredo as co-chair of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) on October 31. Robredo accepted the offer on November 6.
Robredo earlier said the government’s war on drugs may not be working and should be reviewed since illegal drugs remain prevalent in the country despite three years of the administration’s brutal campaign. The drug war allegedly has killed 5, 526 mostly poor Filipinos.
Now that she’s appointed as drug czar by the President, Robredo said the war on drugs would “continue with the same vigor and intensity” but there would be no killings.
To recall, however, Duterte told reporters in Davao on October 31 that Robredo should have a Cabinet rank if she becomes “anti-drug czar.”
Panelo has also previously issued remarks that Robredo would be given a Cabinet-rank post after she accepted Duterte’s offer to be his drug czar.