MANILA, Philippines—Vice President Leni Robredo on Sunday bared the uneven “level of commitment” among member-agencies of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD).
Robredo is now a co-chair of the ICAD after President Rodrigo Duterte appointed her to the post to take lead of his controversial war on drugs.
While the Vice President acknowledged that some member-agencies like the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Department of Health (DOH) are working hard, she lamented that there are other members that are not on the same level of commitment.
“Hindi pare-pareho iyong level ng commitment. Sa ibang mga agencies, marami pang kailangang gawin na hindi pa nagagawa, so kailangan naming makipagpulong sa bawat isa,” Robredo said during her radio show, “BISErbisyong Leni,” aired over dzXL.
(There’s an uneven level of commitment. In other agencies, there’s a lot of things needed to be done so we need to meet to coordinate with each other.)
“Saka iyong pinakaproblema talaga, Ka Ely, iyong nagtatrabaho in solos,” she added.
(That’s the main problem, there are some agencies working solo.)
President Duterte created ICAD in March 2017. It is co-chaired by Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and composed of the Department of Justice, DILG, DDB, Philippine National Police, National Bureau of Investigation, DOH, Anti-Money Laundering Council, Office of the Solicitor General, Department of Education, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Agriculture, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Philippine Information Agency, Public Attorney’s Office, Philippine Coast Guard, Bureau of Customs, and the Bureau of Immigration.
Duterte had promised to appoint Robredo to a Cabinet rank position and let her lead his controversial war on drugs after the latter criticized the government’s brutal war on drugs.
But Malacañang clarified that Robredo’s ICAD post is not a Cabinet position with Duterte claiming that she doesn’t trust the Vice President enough for such a post.
The opposition stalwart also reiterated that the public health approach is the best practice to arrest the drug problem in the Philippines.
“Hindi talaga puwedeng law enforcement iyong paraan. Ang law enforcement, tumutulong lang siya. Pero dapat collaboration ito and convergence ng lahat na efforts ng hindi lang law enforcement pero lalong lalo na LGU, mga national government agencies, mga private organizations,” she said.
(Law enforcement alone is not enough. Law enforcement is just a complementary factor. It should be done in collaboration and convergence of the local government units, the national government and private organizations.)
Robredo is advocating a health, social and community perspective, including prevention and treatment, in solving the drug menace, which is a stark contrast from the Duterte administration’s police-centered approach.
Edited by MUF