‘I can’t just sit back and look the other way,’ Robredo says on drug war

MANILA: Vice President Leni Robredo on Monday said she cannot just take no action amid the controversies surrounding the government’s campaign against illegal drugs that has killed thousands.

“Every time I open my mouth and criticize some of the government policies, kinukuyog ako lalo na ng trolls online (I felt condemned, especially by trolls online),” Robredo said in an interview.

The vice president stressed that she cannot stay silent despite attacks and threats aimed at her because doing so will mean she is not doing her job.

“But for me, I can’t just sit back and look the other way. If I see something wrong, I feel it’s my obligation to verbalize what I see to give voice no matter how few we are,” Robredo said.

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At least 6,847 drug personalities have been slain in anti-narcotics operations since Duterte assumed office in mid-2016, according to government data.

But the figure is significantly lower than the estimates by human rights watchdogs of as many as 27,000 killed.

Robredo made the statement as she clarified her recent remarks on President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. Reuters ran a story with a headline: “Philippine vice president says time for Duterte to halt failed drug war.”

“The headline made it appear I was against the drug war as a whole, that I wanted it stopped, that I said that the drug war was a total failure. I did not say those things,” Robredo said Monday.

“So I was saying that if the numbers kept rising, it’s time for the government to step back and assess and perhaps tweak the strategies they have been using,” she also said, adding that she only quoted the numbers spouted by Duterte in his speeches.

When asked if she believes the campaign against illegal narcotics has failed, Robredo replied: “It failed in the sense that it has not successfully curbed the number of drug users that should have been curbed from the very start because the numbers are rising.”

Her quoted comments on the article of Reuters did not sit well with Malacañang.

Duterte’s spokesperson Salvador Panelo accused the vice president of engaging in black propaganda against the administration.

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“She may not realize it but she is echoing the lies and black propaganda of some of her colleagues in the political opposition, which to say the least is unfortunate, especially since she was part of the Cabinet when the government’s program against the drug menace was launched,” Panelo said.

Robredo served the Duterte Cabinet as chairwoman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council but she resigned in December 2016, just six months into office.

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