Robredo stands by drug war report claim: ‘Kung mali ako, mali ang binigay ninyong data’

Vice President Leni Robredo on Wednesday stood by her pronouncements that the government’s anti-illegal drug war is a failure, saying her data would only be wrong if government officials would admit that they gave her the wrong figures.

“Kapag sinabi nilang mali iyong data ko, galing iyon sa kanila. Ano 'yung effect sa supply ng paghuli ng high-value targets? Kung walang epekto sa supply, wala rin. Kung 4,000 kilograms o 5,000 kilogram of shabu ang nasamsam, of what iyon? Iyong computation nga natin less than one percent, paano natin masasabing we are accomplishing something?” Robredo said during a news forum in Manila.

“Kung maraming drug operations, kung hindi nabawasan ang supply, sayang ang resources,” Robredo added.

Robredo said that instead of crying foul over her report that cited government figures, administration officials should reconcile their drug war numbers—something she said they have failed to do in the last three years.

In giving the drug war a 1% mark, Robredo cited the Philippine National Police’s estimates of 3,000 kilograms of shabu per week (156,000 kilograms a year) and compared it with PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency) seizures which did not even reach 1% of the 156,000 kilograms per year in the last three years.

“Iyong point ko lang dito kung mali yung estimate ng PNP, ano ‘yong tama?  Kung walang basehan, dapat di niyo nirereport [sa akin]. Siyempre, ‘yung taumbayan maniniwala sa pamahalaan. Nililinlang ba ‘yong taumbayan?  Kung mali ‘yong figures, ano ‘yong tama?  Kasi kami naka-base lang sa kung ano ‘yong nirereport niyo,” Robredo pointed out.

Robredo’s 40-page report on her 19-day stint as Inter-agency Committee Against Illegal Drugs (ICAD) also showed that while PDEA’s working number on drug users is four million, PDEA admitted that this estimate is not based on any scientific formula. Moreover, the PNP has only accounted for 1.5 million drug users, of which 1.2 million are surrenderers and over 300,000 arrested.

The Vice President also cited data from the United States Agency for International Development’s rapid assessment that only 32 to 50% of drug users were able to undergo assessment on how bad their drug addiction is and only 10 to 15% of them received community rehabilitation.

“Hindi puwede na galing lang sa ere yung datos kasi paano tayo susukat kung tama ‘yong ginagawa natin?” Robredo added.

The PNP and PDEA, however, called Robredo’s criticism unfair and argued that these figures were unofficial, if not unconfirmed.

“Baka mas mabuti mag-usap-usap muna sila kung ano ba talaga… Ito nga iyong pino-point out ko na isa sa pinakakulang sa buong kampanya: hindi nag-a-agree iyong mga agencies tungkol sa datos,” Robredo added.

Responding to Robredo’s conclusion, President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday that the Vice President cannot lecture him on the drug war, claiming that she did not do anything during her ICAD stint and as such, was a colossal blunder.

Administration Senators Francis Tolentino and Bong Go also said that Robredo is in no position to assess the drug war.

Duterte removed Robredo from the ICAD on November 24 over the supposed missteps she took, including talking to foreign entities critical of the anti-narcotics campaign. — RSJ, GMA News