Robredo won’t walk away from anti-drug drive

Vice President Leni Robredo may be down, but she is not out of the fight against illegal drugs as far as she is concerned.

Robredo made the declaration less than 24 hours after she was fired by President Rodrigo Duterte as co-chair of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs—a post she only held for 19 days.

“May interes ba tayong nabangga? Ano ba ang kinatatakutan ninyong malaman ko? Ano ba ang kinatatakutan ninyong malaman ng taumbayan? Kung sa tingin nila matatapos ito dito, hindi nila ako kilala. Nagsisimula pa lang ako,” Robredo said in a press conference in her home province of Camarines Sur.

“Sa mga susunod na araw, magbibigay ako ng ulat sa bayan. Sasabihin ko ang aking natuklasan at aking mga rekomendasyon,” Robredo added.

VP Robredo during a press conference in CamSur less than 24 hours after being fired as co-chair of an anti-drug panel: Ano ba ang kinatatakutan ninyong malaman ko? @gmanews pic.twitter.com/QxDcmja7eD

— Llanesca T. Panti (@llanescajourno) November 25, 2019

Robredo accepted the presidential appointment last November 6 despite the advice of her allies to turn it down. [Timeline of Robredo's 19-day stint as ICAD co-chair.]

At that time, she said that if accepting the post would mean stopping drug war deaths, catching high-value targets and bringing those who kill in the name of drug war to justice—the risk would be worth it.

In her 19-day tenure, Robredo visited community-based rehabilitation centers for drug dependents and drug-infested communities, calling on the public to help the government in clearing their places of the illegal drug trade.

She also met with government agencies under the ICAD such as the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Philippine National Police, the Department of Health, as well as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and officials from the US Embassy in Manila.

Robredo then questioned the motives behind her firing just 19 days into the job, and such undermining of her capabilities fuels her to do more.

“Walang tigil ang pagbabatikos. Mahina raw ako sa krimen. Huwag daw akong makialam sa pulis. Hindi raw ako mapagkakatiwalaan. Pinagtulung-tulungan at pinagkaisahan ako para hindi magtagumpay. Kung pareho naman ang ating layunin, bakit hindi na lang tayo magtulungan?” Robredo said.

“Makakaasa kayo: Kahit tinanggalan ako ng posisyon, hinding-hindi nila kayang tanggalin ang aking determinasyon. Determinasyong itigil ang patayan, panagutin ang kailangang managot, at ipanalo ang kampanya laban sa iligal na droga.

The President said he fired Robredo from her ICAD post for grandstanding and being supposedly a failure. 

Malacañang, meanwhile, said Robredo was fired because she — and her party-mates at the Liberal Party — asked for it.

"'Yung presidente mismo ng Partido Liberal was asking the President to fire her... Ang pinakamatindi, si VP Leni, nung magsalita si Presidente, ano ang naging tugon niya? Sabi niya, 'Kung ayaw mo sa akin, sabihin mo.' Ayun, pinagbigyan siya," presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Monday. —KG/KBK, GMA News