{"id":240273,"date":"2019-12-17T18:14:58","date_gmt":"2019-12-17T23:14:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=240273"},"modified":"2019-12-17T18:14:58","modified_gmt":"2019-12-17T23:14:58","slug":"robredo-expose-has-nothing-to-do-with-aid-for-quake-victims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/12\/17\/robredo-expose-has-nothing-to-do-with-aid-for-quake-victims\/","title":{"rendered":"Robredo expose has nothing to do with aid for quake victims"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In a statement, Panelo dismissed as \u201cpure nonsense\u201d the claim of Robredo\u2019s spokesperson Barry Gutierrez that his taunting to release the discoveries and recommendations on how to improve the government’s efforts against illegal drugs showed he lacked empathy to the situation of the residents affected by the quake. (File Photo: Philippine Information Agency)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo on Tuesday rebuked Vice President Leni Robredo for postponing anew the release of her findings into the Duterte administration\u2019s drug war to prioritize the giving of aid to quake-hit residents of Davao del Sur.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Panelo dismissed as \u201cpure nonsense\u201d the claim of Robredo\u2019s spokesperson Barry Gutierrez that his taunting to release the discoveries and recommendations on how to improve the government’s efforts against illegal drugs showed he lacked empathy to the situation of the residents affected by the quake.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe release of her report\/recommendation, previously described by her as \u2018discoveries,\u2019 insinuating that these were irregularities that she threatened to expose has nothing to do with focusing efforts to help the earthquake victims and the rehabilitation work on the resulting damage. Both can co-exist,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not as if when the Vice President speaks, the world will stop and the government will halt its operations to provide assistance in Davao,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Gutierrez said the Office of the Vice President (OVP) believes the welfare of the people in Davao del Sur and other areas rocked by the 6.9-magnitude tremor should come first.<\/p>\n

\u201cKung hindi naiintindihan ni<\/em>\u00a0Secretary Panelo\u00a0kung bakit ipinagpaubaya ng ating Bise Presidente ang pag-release ng report ngayong umaga, pagkatapos noong lindol na nangyari kahapon, siguro totoong wala siyang puso at malasakit para sa ating mga kababayan<\/em>\u00a0(If Secretary Panelo does not understand why the Vice President decided to defer the release of her report this morning, after the earthquake yesterday, perhaps he really has no heart and empathy for our countrymen)\u201d Gutierrez said in a media interview on Monday.<\/p>\n

Panelo previously questioned why Robredo would need to push back the release of her findings, saying she could have done it when she was still co-chair of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD).<\/p>\n

Misplaced sympathy card<\/strong><\/p>\n

Panelo said the Robredo camp\u2019s resort to the sympathy card is \u201cmisplaced\u201d, citing how she failed to be present when the Bicol Region was hit by Typhoon Nina (international name Nock-Ten) in 2016 because she was on vacation in the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cVP Leni was elsewhere when a typhoon ravaged her hometown of Naga on Christmas Day in 2016 but we didn\u2019t accuse her of not sympathizing with her kababayans because it is non sequitur,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

Robredo\u2019s camp, however, defended the Vice President from spending the holidays away from the Philippines, stressing that she was directing her office to work with regional officials and agencies in setting up local relief centers for immediate emergency response on the ground.<\/p>\n

He also pointed out Robredo did not hesitate to bear that she would soon release her drug war report right after the 30th South East Asian Games closing ceremony on December 11.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was VP Leni who announced to the media that she would release her \u2018discoveries\u2019 which she now described as a recommendation\/report, as then co-chair of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs, immediately after the conclusion of the 30th South East Asian Games,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Only wants the spotlight<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Palace official claimed Robredo \u201conly wants the spotlight\u201d, noting that while the public expected her to bare the content of her report on Monday, she merely called for a press briefing to announce that she would hold it off.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer decision to call a press briefing to announce that there is no press briefing, while flashing her 40-page report, reveals that she only wants the spotlight,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs described by some notable columnists, she has become irrelevant at this time due to her not well thought of political statements,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

He also criticized the Vice President for \u201clooking for a perfect timing and hoping that people would pay attention to her as she struggles to be relevant\u201d while the government continues to provide aid to the quake-affected region.<\/p>\n

Not a time to vacillate<\/strong><\/p>\n

Panelo reiterated the importance of the administration\u2019s anti-narcotics campaign, stressing that the government could not waste time since the welfare of the next generation is at stake.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf VP Leni has anything to recommend to improve the current anti-illegal drug war, out with it. This is not the time to vacillate,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf she has \u2018discoveries\u2019 that she threatened to expose, bring it on, as the President dares her to do,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

On Monday’s press briefing, Robredo said she would release her findings before Christmas instead but it would still depend on the status of the quake-affected residents.<\/p>\n

She, however, bared that the report is already complete, even showing a copy of the file she was supposed to make public.<\/p>\n

Currently, members of her staff have been sent to the affected Mindanao areas to attend to people\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n

Robredo was appointed as co-chair at ICAD on Oct. 31 to help Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Aaron Aquino in efforts to curb the drug menace.<\/p>\n

She was fired 19 days later due to alleged \u201cmissteps\u201d such as meeting with foreign personalities and groups that have prejudged the drug war and failing to present new measures in curbing the drug proliferation in the country.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo on Tuesday rebuked Vice President Leni Robredo for postponing anew the release of her findings …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":218631,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-240273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippiine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240273"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":240274,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240273\/revisions\/240274"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}