Robredo: Duterte should lead drug war, go after big time syndicates

On the same day that she described the government’s war on drugs as a failure, Vice President Leni Robredo said Monday that President Rodrigo Duterte should lead the anti-illegal drugs campaign by prioritizing reduction of drug supply and drug users.

Robredo made the pitch as she released her 40-page report on her 19-day stint as co-chair of the Inter-Agency Committee Against Illegal Drugs (ICAD)—a post she was fired from last November 24 for supposedly being a failure.

Robredo cited that while Executive Order 15 issued by President Duterte in 2017 creates a National Anti-Illegal Drugs Task Force, such has yet to be formed to this day.

“Itong EO 15 na nagtayo rin ng ICAD, sinasabi na mayroong dapat national anti-illegal durgs task force. Dalawang taon na, wala pa ring aksyon ukol rito,” Robredo said.

“Hindi co-chair ang kailangan ng ICAD. Kailangan ang Pangulo ang commander-in-chief rito. Iyong mga high value targets, sila dapat ang gusto nating habulin kasi sila ang kumikita ng malaki rito,” Robredo added.

She earlier cited government records comparing police records of prevailing shabu supply with the illegal drugs seized by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency which resulted to only 1 percent of drug supply being seized on a yearly basis for the last three years.

Dangerous Drugs Board

At the same time, Robredo said the ICAD should be chaired by the Dangerous Drugs Board instead to be able to implement such a drug-demand reduction policy shift rather than killing small-time drug suspects.

At present, the ICAD is chaired by Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency led by retired police general Aaron Aquino.

“Nire-recommend ko na ilipat sa DDB ang chairmanship ng ICAD kasi DDB ang mas may kakayahang magplano ng mga program na tutulong sa bawat miyembro ng ICAD,” Robredo said.

“Sa tingin ko, mas magiging balanse ang mga programa [kapag DDB ang namuno] dahil lahat ng aspeto ng ilegal na droga ay matutugunan,” she added.

Based on police records obtained by Robredo and stated in her report, over 6,700 drug suspects have been killed under the police’s anti-drug operations—all of whom were not charged or have faced trial before courts. — RSJ, GMA News