‘This is not us’: Robredo hits bloody anti-drug ops in Manila, Bulacan

Vice President Leni Robredo. GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo expressed outrage on Thursday over the police operations that killed 32 drug suspects in Bulacan province and at least 26 in Manila, both in a span of one day.

“Ito (ay) isang bagay na kailangan mag-express tayo ng outrage. Hindi naman tayo ganyan eh. Hindi tayo ito,” Robredo said in a press conference in Naga City.

(This calls for us to express our outrage. We are not like that. This is not us.)

“’Yung culture of impunity, matagal na nating isinikwal. Sana hindi na natin papayagang makabalik pa,” she added.

(We have long condemned the culture of impunity. Let us not allow it to return.)

While President Rodrigo Duterte lauded the said police operations in Bulacan province, Robredo insisted that due process should be taken into consideration.

READ: ‘That’s good,’ says Duterte on killing of 32 Bulacan druggies

“Kung merong kasalanan papanagutin, pero dapat ‘yung due process isinasaalang-alang (Criminals should be held accountable, but due process should be followed),” the vice president said.

Duterte, in a speech before members of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption on Wednesday, described the killing of 32 drug suspects in Bulacan as “good.”

“Yung namatay daw kanina sa Bulacan, 32, in a massive raid. Maganda ‘yun. Makapatay lang tayo ng mga another 32 everyday then maybe we can reduce what ails this country,” Duterte said.

(There were 32 who died in a massive raid in Bulacan, that is good. We could just kill another 32 everyday, then maybe we could reduce what ails this country.)

In simultaneous police anti-drug operations in Bulacan on Monday midnight until Tuesday morning, 32 drug suspects were killed and 107 were arrested.

READ: Bulacan PNP war on drugs: 32 suspects killed in 24 hours

Meanwhile, fatalities have reached 26 as of 12:54 p.m. on Thursday following another “one-time, big-time” drug raid in Manila on Wednesday evening.

READ: 26 die in Manila after ‘resisting’ in MPD anti-drug ops

“‘Pag merong ganitong patayan, sasabihin may mga taong nilalagay sa sarili nilang kamay ‘yung batas. Hindi na hinahayaang gumiling pa ‘yung mga proseso na nasa konstitusyon natin para siguruhin na ‘yung hustisya naibibigay para sa lahat,” Robredo said.

(Killings like these show that there are people who put the law in their own hands. They thwart constitutional processes which ensure that everyone gets justice.) IDL