Guevarra: Robredo firing from ICAD lost chance to unite vs drugs

MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he was saddened that the opportunity for the opposition and the administration to work hand in hand against illegal drugs which was “crushed before it could even take flight.”

Guevarra issued the reaction after Vice President Leni Robredo’s stint at the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) ended in less than a month.

“Personally, I feel so sad about what happened. There was an opportunity for the administration and even the opposition to bond together and put up a united front against a common enemy which is illegal drugs,” Guevarra said.

“But you know circumstances caused this venture to crushed before it could even take flight so I feel sad about it.”

The DOJ chief said the country was facing a big problem against illegal drugs and everyone should help. While he himself could not pinpoint what happened or what was the cause, he said he was hoping that law enforcement agencies should just ignore politics “and focus their attention on the real battle on the ground.”

But despite this development, he believed that President Rodrigo Duterte gave the ICAD co-chair post to Robredo in good faith and not as a set-up for her to fail on the job.

“No, I don’t think so. I don’t think so. I have always treated that as an act of the President in good faith, but circumstance somehow created the impression that maybe there could have been some motives, other than the true motive than helping in the illegal drug campaign. So it’s too bad that these things happened. But to me, I think that the President meant well when he decided to designate the Vice President as co-chair of the ICAD,” he added.

Guevara also explained that in the original executive order creating the ICAD there was no co-chair position so there was no need to recommend someone else to the post left behind by the Vice President.

“But let’s see how it will go. It was OK even with one chairman or chairperson,” he added.

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