Panelo: VP Leni can do as she pleases with ‘drug findings’

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Robredo was appointed not only to help in the illegal drugs crackdown, but to see for herself that the administration has been “transparent.” (File photo: Office of the Presidential Spokesperson/Facebook)

MANILA — Vice President Leni Robredo, who was recently fired as drug czar, is free to release the findings on the Duterte administration’s anti-narcotics campaign, Malacañang said on Monday.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Robredo was appointed not only to help in the illegal drugs crackdown, but to see for herself that the administration has been “transparent.”

“She can do as she pleases. Anything that she claims she has discovered was accessed to her,” Panelo said in a statement.

“She was precisely appointed, apart from giving her the opportunity to assist in the campaign against illegal drugs, to let her know that everything in the drug war was and is transparent,” he added.

In a speech in Camarines Sur, Robredo said she will issue a report to the nation on what she learned during her two-week stint as co-chair of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD)

Panelo, meanwhile, insisted that Robredo was fired for her “incompetence” apart from her failure to introduce new programs that would help fight the drug menace.

“Tinimbang siya ngunit kulang (She was weighed, but she was lacking),” Panelo said.

Robredo was appointed by Duterte as ICAD co-chair on October 31 after calling the drug war a failure.

Since then, Robredo has decided to focus on the rehabilitation of drug users, met with officials from the United States and United Nations to discuss efforts to eliminate the illegal drug trade.

She also asked authorities for classified information on the anti-narcotics campaign particularly the list of high-value targets. However, this did not sit well with the President.

Panelo said Robredo wasted the “opportunity” to work with the Duterte administration in improving the crackdown on illegal drugs.

Despite being drug czar for over two weeks, Panelo said Robredo has yet to present any new program or project to improve the anti-illegal drug campaign.

He said if Robredo wanted to clarify her official functions as ICAD co-chair, she should have reached out to the President to seek clarification instead of “grandstanding.”

Moreover, he said Robredo herself “taunted” and “dared” the President to remove her from her post if he failed to trust her completely.

“The Vice President had it coming. She has been making missteps. Apart from that, the president of the Liberal Party was daring the President to fire her, and VP Leni herself was taunting and daring the President to fire her; and she had this coming,” Panelo said in an interview ANC.

“It’s not surprising. She was given the opportunity to assist in the program but she blew it,” he added.