Robredo says drug war report not meant to scare anyone

Vice President Leni Robredo —JAM STA ROSA

MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Leni Robredo has downplayed speculations that government officials should be wary and scared of the drug war findings that she would reveal soon.

Robredo clarified on Tuesday that she never intended to scare or intimidate anyone with the planned release of her report.

“Walang dapat matakot. Medyo nakakatawa nga na parang iyong anticipation, nananakot ako, wala naman tayong tinatakot,” she said on the sidelines of a program at the Commission on Human Rights.

(No one should be scared. It’s just funny that the anticipation appeared to be I’m scaring anyone, but actually I’m not.)

The Vice President also noted that the report would mostly contain her recommendations, which were collated during her short her time as the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) co-chair.

“Iyong sa atin lang, mas rekomendasyon, para ipakita ko naman na hindi ko sinayang iyong 18 days na binigay sa akin. Nakita niyo naman kung paano ako nagtrabaho,” Robredo added.

(For me, it was more of a recommendation to prove that I did not waste my 18 days in office given to me. You have seen how I worked.)

“Pero hindi ito pananakot, kasi iyong pananakot, para lang iyon sa mga may kasalanan. Sa akin, iyong aasahan mas moving forward, mas recommendatory,” she insisted.

(But this is not about scaring, because those who are scared are only for those who are liable. For me, it was more of moving forward, more of a recommendation.)

After President Rodrigo Duterte decided to fire Robredo from the ICAD post last November 24, Robredo questioned whether she ran through several interests.  She also said during that speech that she will publicize a report on what she discovered — although she chose to delay to give way to the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

She also clarified that the discoveries are the problems with the government’s handling of the anti-drug campaign.

“Ito, natutuklasan na mga kakulangan. Natutuklasan na mga kakulangan, natutuklasan na dapat hindi, palitan ng iba. Basta ito, sa akin, expectation lang, ang hinahanap natin solusyon, hindi problema,” Robredo said.

(These are what we found lacking and what we see should be changed. For me it is just an expectation only, what we are looking are solutions not problems.)

“Ang hinahanap natin papaano mapapabuti—papaano mapapabuti, papaano ma-i-improve, papaano tayo magmu-move forward,” she added.

(What we are looking here is how to improve, how we can move on.)

Earlier, the Vice President said that the report will be made public on Monday, December 16.

Edited by JPV