Firing VP akin to EJK — Lagman

MANILA, Philippines — Opposition Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay yesterday likened to an extrajudicial killing President Duterte’s removal of Vice President Leni Robredo as co-chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD).

“The summary dismissal of the Vice President as ICAD co-chair without any valid reasons and due process is akin to an extrajudicial killing. Like EJK victims, Robredo fought and criticized the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs,” Lagman said.

He claimed that the President fired Robredo to hide from her data on the anti-drugs campaign.

Her dismissal “is similar to the extrajudicial killing of some victims to silence them and cover up incriminatory information known to them,” he said.

Lagman belongs to the opposition Liberal Party (LP), which Robredo chairs.

Another LP leader, Jose Christopher Belmonte of Quezon City, who is the party’s secretary general, said the Vice President was fired as she might have “discovered significant information on the root of our nation’s drug trade.”

“What was important to her was putting a stop to the killings. That’s why she talked to the right people, coordinated with the right agencies, asked the right questions. Why was she suddenly removed?” Belmonte asked.

Another congressman, Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro City, said Robredo’s removal was “rather unfortunate.”

“President Duterte’s experiment in appointing her was doomed from the very start. The VP is leader of the opposition, a lawyer and an advocate of human rights. Her views on the anti-illegal drugs campaign were diametrically opposed to the current thrusts of the administration,” he said.

Rodriguez said Duterte’s “All Boys Club was therefore worried, to say the least, on her entry into the picture.” 

“To them, her appointment was totally unacceptable. So it’s now business as usual,” he added.

The militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said the people are awaiting Robredo’s report on the drug war. – With Rhodina Villanueva