Opposition missed chance to help in anti-drug campaign

Department of Justice (DOJ) (Photo By Ramon FVelasquez – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0)

MANILA — The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday said the opposition missed an opportunity to substantially contribute to the campaign against illegal drugs following Vice President Leni Robredo’s sacking as co-chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) by President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday.

“Personally, I feel so sad about what happened. There was this opportunity for the administration and even the opposition to bond together and put up a united front against a common enemy which is illegal drugs. But you know, circumstances cost this venture to crush before it could even take flight so I feel sad about it because there was that opportunity already available,” Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra told reporters.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo later issued a statement saying Robredo was being removed from her post “in response to the suggestion of Liberal Party President, Senator Francis Pangilinan, to just fire the Vice President from her post.”

“This is also in response to the taunt and dare of VP Robredo for the President to just tell her that he wants her out,” Panelo said.

He added that Robredo’s appointment to ICAD “was an offer to make the campaign against illegal drugs better.”

“Unfortunately, she wasted such opportunity and used the same as a platform to attack the methods undertaken by this administration,” he said.

Robredo was supposed to help her ICAD co-chair, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Director General Aaron Aquino, in addressing the drug menace in the country until June 30, 2022.

Robredo was appointed by Duterte as ICAD co-chair on October 31, following her claims that the current administration’s drug war is “absolutely not working”.

Duterte initially wanted Robredo to hold a Cabinet rank as ICAD co-chair, but later on, changed his mind for fear that the Vice President might reveal “classified” matters about the government’s anti-narcotics campaign.