Kung ang tagapagsalita ni Vice Pres. Leni Robredo raw ang tatanungin, mga plano at suhestyon lang aasahan mula sa pahayag na ilalabas bukas ng pangalawang pangulo bilang tugon sa appointment sa kanya bilang co-chairperson ng Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD).
Iginiit ni Atty. Barry Gutierrez na kailanman ay hindi humingi ng posisyon si Robredo para manduhan ang war on drugs campaign ng pamahalaan.
“At this point tingin namin ang usapin ay hindi yung pagtanggap ni VP Leni o hindi. You have to remember that the VP never asked for an appointment. It was the president who raised it in the first place. It is the president who has been leading yung anti-drug effort for the past 3 and a half years. And clearly its still the president that will actually be calling the shots. Walang power itong co-chair ng ICAD. Even granting the position will be created somewhere in the future, dahil ngayon hindi siya nage-exist. Ina-appoint siya sa non-existent position. On that note we’re not yet responding to the letter.”
“Tomorrow she’ll be giving a statement not just on yung issue of the appointment but more of clearly on yung directions that she thinks the drug war should take, specific mentions to the palace dahil doon naman nagsimula ‘tong usapan na ‘to eh. Nagsalita si VP Leni tungkol don sa mga tingin niyang pagkukulang dito sa drug campaign at ang naging response ng palasyo, aside from dismissing yung kanyang mga sinabi, ay biglang-bigla may ganitong klaseng offer. Tingin namin palabas ito eh. Hindi ‘to seryoso. Ito ay pamumulitika and we dont want to be caught in that. We would rather focus on the importanteng issues which is paano ba natin maayos ito para matigil yung mga pagpatay ng mga inosente; papano ba natin maaayos ito para yung mga totoong malaking operator ng drugs ang mahuli.”
Para sa tagapagsalita ng vice president, paso na ang pinaiiral na drug war ng gobyerno dahil sa mga kabi-kabilang ulat ng umano’y extrajudicial killings mula ng ipatupad ito noong 2016.
“Well to begin with klaruhin natin. Yung drug war clearly has been a failure on several levels already. Yung paglabas pa lang on the past few weeks yung mga imbestigasyon; yung mga ninja cops na klaro that there have been abuses that have been taken place in the context of the drug war. The fact that the majority of Filipinos fear na baka maging biktima sila ng extrajudicial killings; the fact that there have been innocents killed here mayroon talagang indications that there is a failure.”
Nagpasaring din ito sa naging pangako noon ni Duterte bago mahalal bilang chief executive.
“We think that attempting to pass on the failures of the past three years and half to the vice president, medyo hindi naman yata namin basta tatanggapin yon. Hindi kami ang nangako na aayusin yung problema ng droga in six months tapos in a day i-expect na kami ang aayos ng lahat ng ito. Parang feeling ko naman mali yata yung nagiging focus ng Malacanang kung ganyan ang kanilang intensyon dito.”
Sa ngayon malinaw daw na nais ni Robredo maghayag ng suhestyon para mapabuti ang tila naging marahas na istilo ng pagkubkob sa illegal drug trade sa bansa.
“Actually hindi desisyon ang tumatagal. Ang pini-prepare natin dito ay yung kanyang mga proposal na ipe-present bukas. To be cleared, the vice president started this entire conversation when she said that the has certain observations regarding shortcomings in the way that yung war on drugs was being waged. Ang nag-raise nung issue (ng appointment) ay si presidente. Hindi naman si VP Leni yung humingi ng posisyon dito eh.”
“So that’s what she is focusing on. Tomorrow that is what will be presented. Specific recommendations to the president as to what should be done in order to address yung mga failings ng current campaign–proposals as vice president.”
