Robredo on her comments on drug war pitfalls: Where is the lie?

Vice President Leni Robredo has denied lying about the administration’s drug war, saying that the figures on the increasing number of drug users amid the government’s bloody drug war came from President Rodrigo Duterte himself.

Robredo was responding to criticisms hurled by the supporters of the Duterte administration over her remarks that the drug war should be tweaked if not reassessed because the drug war, and even the President Duterte has threatened to kill drug personalities, have failed to curb drug use.

“Anong mali doon sa sinabi ko? Na kino-quote ko lang iyong numbers na sinabi ni Pangulo. So alin doon iyong sinungaling? Saan galing iyong numero? Even 2016, 1.8 million, galing iyon sa Dangerous Drugs Board. Iyong 4 million na drug addicts, galing iyon kay Presidente in one of his speeches in 2017. Iyong 7 to 8 million, galing iyon in one of his speeches noong February of 2019. So ano iyong sinungaling doon?,” Robredo said in an interview on ANC television.

“I cannot just sit back and look the other way. Kapag may nakikita akong mali, pakiramdam ko obligasyon kong i-verbalize iyong nakikita ko, kahit kakaunti kami,” Robredo added.

Robredo then said that the drug war’s popularity—of which 80% of the public approves of—does not make the policy perfect.

“They are saying that the campaign has been very popular. Kahit sasampu lang kaming naniniwala na may mali, kailangan ko pa ding iboses kasi may nakikita akong mali,” Robredo said.

“It failed in the sense that it has not... it has not... successfully curbed the number of drug users that... that should have been curbed from the very start. Kasi iyong numbers nga, rising, eh. So iyong sa akin lang, hindi ko hinihingi na ihinto. Ang sinasabi ko lang, baka it’s time for us to assess ano ba iyong mali,” she added.

Also on Monday, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano disagreed with Robredo’s views.

“I disagree with her. Ang sinasabi ng Vice President, marami nang napatay, pero marami pa ring pusher. Kasi malaki pera eh at marami sa pusher, gumagamit din. Pero ang katotohanan, marami na ring natatakot na pumasok sa droga,” Cayetano said.

“Nare-report niyo ‘yung mga bilyon na nakakalusot sa Customs, pero remember, this is a P210 billion industry. Shabu pa lang ‘yun. Iyan ang magnitude [ng problem na] hahabulin mo,” he added.

Based on government figures, over 5,500 individuals have been killed in anti-drug operations.

Human rights groups, however, peg the drug war deaths to as high as 20,000 people which include those killed by unidentified hitmen. — Llanesca T. Panti/RSJ, GMA News