MANILA, Philippines – The release of Vice President Leni Robredo’s drug war report will depend on the state of quake-stricken Davao del Sur and on how much help it should need, she said on Monday.
According to Robredo, who earlier deferred releasing her findings as former Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) co-chair due to the earthquakes, it may be publicized before Christmas, December 25 — if there is enough time.
“Ako, depende how things will unfold sa Davao. Kung may oras pa before Christmas, baka gawin na namin before Christmas. Pero kapag grabe, baka pag-resume na lang ulit,” she told reporters after her announcement.
(For me, it depends on how things will unfold in Davao. If we have time before Christmas, we might release the reports before Christmas. But if the situation is dire, we might just do it once we resume.)
Robredo however did not specify if it would take until 2020 before the report becomes public.
Meanwhile, she also called for donations which will be given to people affected by the Magnitude 6.9 earthquake in Davao del Sur on Sunday. Robredo said Office of the Vice President teams specified tents and drinking water as the most needed relief goods as of the moment.
According to recent reports, several buildings have collapsed and one child has been confirmed dead after the shallow tectonic earthquake.
“Iyong sabi sa amin, iyong priority daw nila tents saka drinking water, kasi wala na daw tubig. Wala nang tubig as of this morning. So nakikiusap din tayo, siguro tulong sa mga local government units doon, iyong mga generators, baka may mga puwedeng makapagpahiram,” she said.
“Sana iyong mga taga-doon na kakilala natin na mayroon na hindi naman affected, makapahiram ng generators, kasi kailangan talaga nila sa operations,” she added.
(According to them, their priorities are tents and drinking water, because there is no water supply as of this morning. We are also appealing to local government units there if they can lend generator sets.)
(We hope the people there who were not affected by the earthquake can lend their generators, because it is really needed in the rescue operations.)
The Vice President was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte as ICAD co-chair last October 31, which the former accepted on November 6. However, after just 19 days, Robredo was fired from her post, with Duterte previously citing lack of trust with the opposition leader.
Duterte also reasoned out that Robredo talked with various organizations that were already rebuked by government, including a supposed foreign prosecutor seeking to have him arrested.
However, Robredo claimed that these are just fake news, as the foreign organizations that she only talked with are those from the United Nations Office on Crime and Drugs, and the United States Embassy.
When she was fired, Robredo vowed to share her findings about the drug war, with critics and supporters alike eagerly anticipating her report. She initially deferred discussing the report in respect to the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, and again when she travelled to Mindanao for a series of anti-poverty projects.
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