{"id":241475,"date":"2020-01-06T18:24:56","date_gmt":"2020-01-06T23:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=241475"},"modified":"2020-01-06T18:24:56","modified_gmt":"2020-01-06T23:24:56","slug":"robredos-drug-findings-a-dud-palace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/01\/06\/robredos-drug-findings-a-dud-palace\/","title":{"rendered":"Robredo\u2019s drug findings \u2018a dud\u2019: Palace"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: Robredo held her first meeting with ICAD member agencies at her office in New Manila, Quezon City on Friday afternoon, two days after she accepted President Rodrigo R. Duterte\u2019s challenge to lead the anti-narcotics campaign by serving as co-chair of the anti-drug body. (Photo<\/a>: VP Leni Robredo\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— Malaca\u00f1ang on Monday dismissed Vice President Leni Robredo\u2019s findings and recommendations on the illegal drugs campaign as \u201ca dud\u201d, stressing that she was only trying to be \u201crelevant\u201d.<\/p>\n

Robredo claimed anew that the Duterte administration\u2019s crackdown on illegal drugs is a \u201cfailure\u201d because authorities have seized less than one percent of shabu (crystal meth) since 2016.<\/p>\n

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, however, said what he considered a \u201cfailure\u201d was Robredo\u2019s 18-day stint as co-chair of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD).<\/p>\n

\u201cPalagay ko<\/em>\u00a0failure\u00a0yung pag-upo niya<\/em>\u00a0(I think the failure was her appointment there),\u201d Panelo said in a Palace briefing.<\/p>\n

He criticized Robredo for implying that her findings contained irregularities she was about to expose when in fact there was clearly nothing new about her report.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you notice when she was threatening (about) this report, she implied\u00a0na meron siyang mga nadiskubreng iregularidad na akala mo\u2019y bombang sasabog sa mukha<\/em>\u00a0(that she discovered irregularities you\u2019d think was a bomb that would explode on your face),\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a dud.\u00a0Wala naman siyang sinabi dun na bago na hindi tinututukan ng mga ahensiyang<\/em>\u00a0involved\u00a0laban sa droga<\/em>\u00a0(She didn\u2019t say anything new which the drug-related agencies are not already addressing),\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Robredo was supposed to release her findings and recommendations on the government’s campaign against illegal drugs last Dec. 16 but postponed it due to the magnitude 6.9 quake that hit Davao del Sur.<\/p>\n

Panelo earlier questioned why it took Robredo so long to release the findings, insinuating that her findings could be \u201cfabricated\u201d.<\/p>\n

Not a failure<\/strong><\/p>\n

Citing police data, Robredo said only one percent of shabu has been seized in the three-year drug war because around 3,000 kilos of shabu is consumed in the country every week or around 156,000 kilos per year.<\/p>\n

Data from the PDEA showed it only seized 1,344 kilos shabu from January to October 2019; 785 kilos in 2018; and 1,053 kilos in 2017, she said.<\/p>\n

Robredo added that according to estimates from the Philippine National Police (PNP), around PHP1.3 trillion worth of shabu circulates in the country every year. However, law enforcement only apprehended PHP1.4 billion worth of illegal drugs.<\/p>\n

Panelo, however, said this did not immediately mean that the drug campaign is a failure but that there is more work to do.<\/p>\n

He explained that it was easy for illegal drugs to enter the country being composed of many islands, but noted that despite this, they were still being captured by authorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cHindi<\/em>\u00a0totally eradicated simply because\u00a0marami pa ring pumapasok pero yung mga pumapasok, nahuhuli pa rin natin<\/em>\u00a0(It\u2019s not totally eradicated simply because there are many illegal drugs coming in, but they continue to be caught),\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean\u00a0na<\/em>\u00a0(that) failure\u00a0kahit na<\/em>\u00a0(even if it\u2019s just) one percent,\u201d he added, stressing that Robredo failed to see the drug war\u2019s many accomplishments such as having dismantled illegal drug factories, caused the surrender of drug addicts and pushers, and the neutralization of high-value target drug suspects.<\/p>\n

He said Robredo also failed to see the thousands of dysfunctional families by reason of the drug syndicate and only focused on families who have lost loved ones involved in the illegal drug trade.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think she just wants to be relevant,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Wrong feeling\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Among her recommendations, Robredo said instead of the PDEA, the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) should chair the ICAD because it focuses on anti-drug policies while the former focuses on law enforcement.<\/p>\n

Panelo shrugged off her recommendation, insisting she could not simply rely on her gut feeling.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is her basis for saying that? Did she explain?\u00a0Bakit yan ang feeling niya<\/em>\u00a0(Why does she feel that way)? Wrong feeling,\u201d Panelo said. He said Robredo should have consulted with agencies under the ICAD if they were amenable to her suggestion.<\/p>\n

\u201cSila yung mga nandun sa baba, sila ang magsasabi kung okay yung kaniyang rekomendasyon<\/em>\u00a0(They\u2019re the ones on the ground, they\u2019re the ones to say whether her recommendations are okay),\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are people knowledgeable given the fact that they\u2019ve been there in the last three and a half years.\u00a0Sila ang nagbibigay ng rekomendasyon<\/em>\u00a0(They give the recommendations),\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Panelo, however, said the Palace remains open to her findings and recommendations if useful.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not to say however\u00a0na kung meron siyang matinong, magandang mungkahe, hindi natin siya iko-<\/em>consider (that if she is good suggestions, we won\u2019t consider them),\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo far,\u00a0ang nakita ko walang<\/em>\u00a0basis (But so far, what I see is there\u2019s no basis),\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Should be thankful<\/strong><\/p>\n

Asked if Robredo\u2019s findings would affect the President\u2019s high trust and approval ratings, Panelo said Duterte\u2019s ratings continued to soar amid criticism from the opposition.<\/p>\n

\u201cNakita mo naman kahit na anong banat nila, naging<\/em>\u00a087 percent\u00a0nga, lalo ngang lumaki e<\/em>\u00a0(You can see that no matter how much they criticize, his trust rating reached 87 percent, it even increased),\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

He, however, said Robredo\u2019s higher trust and approval ratings could be attributed to her drug czar stint.<\/p>\n

\u201cTumaas yung<\/em>\u00a0rating\u00a0ni<\/em>\u00a0VP Leni.\u00a0Tumaas lang yun kasi nabigyan siya ng pagkakataon na maging<\/em>\u00a0relevant.\u00a0Inappoint siya e<\/em>\u00a0(Her ratings even increased. It only increased because she was given the opportunity to be relevant. She was appointed),\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrior to that,\u00a0diba bagsak siya ng bagsak. Dapat nga nagpapasalamat siya kay Presidente<\/em>\u00a0(her ratings were dropping. She should even thank the President),\u201d he added.<\/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.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Panelo said Robredo accepting the role as drug czar was a \u201cgolden opportunity\u201d that could even propel her into the presidency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— Malaca\u00f1ang on Monday dismissed Vice President Leni Robredo\u2019s findings and recommendations on the illegal drugs campaign as \u201ca dud\u201d, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":237009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1482,1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-241475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241475","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=241475"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241475\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":241476,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241475\/revisions\/241476"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}