Robredo camp: Spare Naga City from allegations

MANILA, Philippines — The camp of Vice President Leni Robredo on Tuesday said that allegations of Naga City as "hotbed" of shabu may have been a jab against Robredo's competence.

“If she is the target, she is ready, but [Naga] should not be dragged into this because many people have put their stake here, many people have benefitted from the efficient administration of the city,” Barry Gutierrez, Robredo's spokesperson, said in Filipino.

Last week, the president claimed that Naga City — bailiwick of Robredo — is a hotbed of shabu, proving that Robredo is incompetent of succeeding him.

Robredo and the Naga City Council expressed indignation over Duterte’s statement, but palace spokesperson Harry Roque said that the local government should prove the president wrong.

READ: Robredo slams Duterte: Naga not ‘hotbed’ of illegal drugs

Gutierrez also dismissed the allegation that Butch Robredo, brother of the late Jesse Robredo, has drug links. It has been circulating since the late Robredo, former Interior and Local Government chief and husband of the vice president, was still alive.

In a report by the DZRH, former Naga City councilor Luis Ortega claimed that the vice president's brother-in-law is behind the illegal drug trade in Naga.

But Gutierrez said that the rumor first got out when Jesse was still a mayor, but the spokesperson said that not a pinch of evidence was presented.

“Sinasakyan na naman, obvious na obvious, iyong binitawan ni presidente last week na salita na “hotbed of shabu” ang Naga—isang statement na kinundena na ng Naga City Council bilang isang pawang kasinungalingan. Walang batayan, at mismong Southern Tagalog PDEA Director sinabi nang walang basis,” Gutierrez added.

(It is very obvious that they were riding the momentum of President Duterte’s pronouncement that Naga is “hotbed of shabu”—a statement condemned by the Naga City Council as lies. No basis and something that the PDEA Southern Tagalog director said has no basis.)

Those who claim that Robredo’s projects in Naga were inefficient are also welcome to file cases before courts, Gutierrez added.

It was said that Ortega is preparing to file a plunder case against Robredo over multi-million infrastructure projects that collapsed. The projects were initiated during the vice president’s stint as a congresswoman.

But Gutierrez said that whatever evidence may be put forth, the courts will appreciate them. “We are confident that all the projects by Vice President Leni are efficient,” he added. – Kristine Joy Patag