Duterte expects Robredo to see 'realities on the ground' with ICAD appointment —Palace

President Rodrigo Duterte welcomed the decision of Vice President Leni Robredo to join the government’s fight against illegal drugs, Malacañang said Thursday.

Duterte’s spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the President made the remark during the 43rd Cabinet meeting in the Palace on Wednesday.

“[T]he President mentioned it was good that Vice President Ma. Leonor Robredo accepted his formal offer to co-chair the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD),” Panelo said.

“With the Vice President at the helm of the anti-narcotics campaign, President Duterte expects that the former would see the realities on the ground, particularly with respect to the government's position against extrajudicial or state-sponsored killings, and understand that deaths occur due to the violent reactions on the part of agents of the illegal drug trade against the strict enforcement of the law.”

Robredo accepted on Wednesday Duterte’s offer of a new Cabinet post despite warnings from her allies and supporters that she was being set up to fail.

Her spokesperson, Barry Gutierrez, had even claimed the position was problematic, unclear and does not exist under Executive Order 15 which created the inter-agency body.

Duterte and Robredo have been at odds over several issues including the deaths linked to the anti-narcotics campaign.

Her recent statement that the war on drugs was ineffective and needed reassessment prompted Duterte to offer the position with Malacañang saying the Vice President may have other ideas to effectively dismantle the illegal drug trade.

Robredo will be serving as ICAD co-chair until the end of the administration’s term on June 30, 2022, unless sooner revoked by Duterte. —KBK, GMA News