Nilinaw ng Office of the Vice President na pananatilihin ni bise presidente Leni Robredo ang Oplan Tokhang kasabay ng kanyang tungkulin bilang drug czar.
Ito ang tiniyak ng tagapagsalita ni Robredo na si Atty. Barry Gutierrez sa gitna ng mga haka-haka na ihihinto na ito ng pangalawang pangulo.
“Ako, it’s beyond renaming and although it is not scrapping completely kasi Tokhang is a name given to the program, and the concern of the Vice President is that over the past three and a half years, it has acquired a negative connotation. It has acquired a certain level of notoriety.”
Ayon kay Gutierrez, isa lang ang tiyak ngayong may boses na ang bise presidente war on drugs campaign.
Ito ay ang garantiya na wala ng kaso ng “senseless killings” o patayan sa mga drug suspect.
“Ngayon, we are realistic enough to acknowledge that in the course of law enforcement, obviously there will be circumstances where the police will be called upon to use little force to defend themselves, to defend innocent civilians and so on. But the point is, even under your guidelines ang ideal outcome ay dapat walang mamamatay, bakit ganiyan kataas iyong numero?”
“So iyon iyong gusto nating maiwasan and that is what VP Leni is saying when she says that, you know, Tokhang has—the age of Tokhang has to end. In other words, iyong thinking ng mga mamamayan na ang Tokhang ay puro tungkol sa patayan ay dapat mawala iyon. Dapat… dapat maibalik iyong idea that this drug campaign is being waged because we want to protect the people.”
Kaugnay nito nagpaabot ng papuri si Robredo sa PNP at PDEA matapos makasamsam ng P6.8-milyon at P5.7-milyong halaga ng pinahihinalaang shabu sa Makati at Maynila kamakailan, nang walang sinasakripisyong buhay sa mga salarin.
