Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo and Vice President Leni Robredo. INQUIRER file photos
BUSAN, South Korea — Malacañang has brushed off Vice President Ma. Leonor “Leni” Robredo’s pronouncement that she would reveal to the public the findings and recommendations she had before President Rodrigo Duterte removed her as anti-drug czar Sunday.
“Sa mga susunod na araw, magbibigay ako ng ulat sa bayan. Sasabihin ko ang aking natuklasan at ang aking mga rekomendasyon. Makakaasa kayo: Kahit tinanggalan ako ng posisyon, hinding hindi nila kayang tanggalin ang aking determinsyon,” Robredo said in a press conference in Camarines Sur.
(In the coming days, I will deliver a report to the nation. I will bare all of the things I have discovered and issue a recommendation. Rest assured: Even if you stripped me of the position, they will never remove my determination.)
Panelo said Robredo “can do as she pleases” as anything that she claims she has discovered was given to her.
“She was precisely appointed, apart from giving her the opportunity to assist in the campaign against illegal drugs, to let her know that everything in the drug was and is transparent,” Duterte’s chief legal counsel added in a statement.
Panelo also insisted Robredo was fired as co-chair of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs for “incompetence” and her “failure to introduce new measures” on the drug war.
“Tinimbang siya ngunit kulang [She was weighed but found lacking],” he added.
Robredo, however, said she already submitted two reports to the President while a third report was underway,
Panelo admitted Duterte has yet to read Robredo’s reports and recommendations before sacking her.