Palace tells Robredo to grab ‘rare opportunity’ of being drug czar

FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte greets Vice President Maria Leonor Robredo on the sidelines of the commencement exercises of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) ‘Mabalasik’ Class of 2019 at Fort General Gregorio Del Pilar in Baguio City. KING RODRIGUEZ/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

Malacañang told Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo that she should grab President Rodrigo Duterte’s offer to lead the administration’s drug war for six months.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the Chief Executive was “serious” when he offered to make Robredo be the drug czar.

“The ball is in her court. But if I were in her place, I would accept because this is a rare opportunity for a critic who would be given an opportunity to show her mettle and at the same time helping the government,” Panelo said on Tuesday, October 29.

“As we have repeatedly said, you cannot just keep on criticizing the government, you have to support it; you have to offer your own talent and expertise in solving the problems of the land,” he added.

Duterte earlier offered to give Robredo his powers over the government’s anti-drug activities, after the latter made fresh remarks on the anti-illegal drug campaign in an interview with Reuters where she was quoted as saying that the government should “abandon” the drug war which “has been a failure and a dent on the country’s international image.”

But the vice president clarified her comments, explaining that she did not want the campaign to be stopped, but only suggested to have a “tweak” in its implementation.

Should Robredo decline Duterte’s offer, the Palace official said it only shows that the drug war is not a failure.

He added that Robredo should just ‘remain silent’ if she has no plans to accept it.

Robredo’s response

Robredo, meanwhile, told reporters that if the anti-drug campaign is successful, then, the President would not have to make such offer to her.

“Kung walang failure, bakit ipapasa sa akin? ‘Di ba? Kasi ipapasa mo lang ang isang bagay kapag hindi mo na kayang gawin (If it is not a failure, why will they pass it onto me? Right? Because you would only pass on something if you can no longer do it),” she said.

“Kung successful kasi siya, hindi kailangang ipasa, kasi wala nang ipapasa, eh. Kasi nagawa mo na (If it is successful, there is no need to pass it on because there is nothing to pass on. You have done it already),” she continued.

Robredo has yet to respond to Duterte’s remarks, saying she will wait first for a formal offer from Malacañang.

“Natuto na ako. Marami ng beses in the past (na) mayroong sinasabi na hindi naman mini-mean. May imbitasyon na babawiin (I have learned my lesson. There have been many times in the past when they said things they did not mean. There were invitations that were cancelled),” she said.

Duterte previously said he will send a letter to Robredo through Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea. Panelo, on the other hand, admitted that he texted the vice president immediately after Duterte made the offer but Robredo did not respond.

 The vice president, however, denied receiving any text message from the spokesman.

“Diyos ko naman. Unang una, wala akong natanggap. Saka kung seryoso, bakit ite-text? ‘Di ba? Kahit walang paggalang sa akin, igalang na lang iyong posisyon. Kung ite-text ka ng isang bagay na ganiyan, hindi iyon seryoso (My god. First of all, I did not receive [a message]. And if it’s serious, why will they text me? Right? Even if they do not respect me, they should respect the position. If you will text something like that, then it is not serious),” she said.