Palace balks at giving Robredo access to drug war's high-value target list

Malacañang on Tuesday balked at the idea of giving Vice President Leni Robredo access to the list of high-value targets in the government’s campaign against illegal drugs.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Robredo did not need the list to aid in her work as co-chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD).

“What do you need that for? ’Di ba nilabas na ni Presidente ‘yan. You’re asking something na alam mo na, bakit mo pa kailangan?” Panelo told reporters, in an apparent reference to President Rodrigo Duterte’s previous public disclosures of alleged drug personalities.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said it would furnish Robredo the list in a closed-door meeting. 

Robredo meanwhile countered that she would not insist on access to the list, even though she believed that the data would be of great help in her strategy in solving the drug menace.

She also assured the public on Monday that no sensitive information on the anti-drug campaign would be disclosed. — DVM, GMA News