Robredo report on drug war a dud — Palace

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang yesterday dismissed as a “dud” Vice President Leni Robredo’s report on the administration’s war on illegal drugs, insisting that the campaign has resulted in the dismantling of several narcotics factories and the arrest of high-value suspects.

Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said there was nothing new about Robredo’s report on the administration’s efforts to curb illicit drugs.

“I think her stint (as co-chair of the Inter-agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs) was a failure,” Panelo said at a press briefing when asked to react to Robredo’s claim that the crackdown on narcotics was a failure.

“When she was threatening (to release) this report, she implied that she had discovered irregularities and you thought it was like a bomb that would explode. It’s a dud. She did not say anything new that agencies involved in the fight against illegal drugs are not working on,” Panelo added.

Panelo said Robredo had issued several statements on illegal drugs even if she is not an expert on the issue.

“The problem is she only handled the post for a few days and yet she talked a lot even if she does not have the expertise. She should have consulted the people there,” the Palace spokesman said.

“If (the drug war) was a failure, the problem on illegal drugs should have affected all families. The fact remains that we have dismantled so many illegal drug factories. The fact remains that we have also caused the surrender of thousands of drug addicts and pushers. The fact remains that due to many police operations ... and also, even high-value drug suspects have been neutralized,” he added.

Panelo also denied that Duterte was inconsistent when he cited data on the number of people affected by the drug menace. He said the one million figure only covered drug addicts in Metro Manila while the seven million referred to users nationwide.

“I cannot understand why she was not listening to the explanation of the President and that was also the explanation to her when she was still in her post. She just held press conferences and talked to people she should not be talking to,” Panelo said, referring to international groups critical of the drug war.

Asked to respond to Robredo’s claims that Duterte’s data have no scientific basis, Panelo insisted that the President has basis for his statements.

“The President has unlimited resources. Vice President Leni stayed in the office for a few days and she has become an expert,” Panelo said.

With regard to Robredo’s suggestion that the Dangerous Drugs Board should lead the ICAD, Panelo said the matter is best left to experts.

Panelo also frowned upon Robredo’s remark that the administration has only managed to curb one percent of illegal drugs being sold in the streets. The Palace spokesman said the Vice President only focused on suspects who were killed and ignored the “thousands of families that became dysfunctional, whose families are destroyed by reason of the drug syndicates.”

“Why one percent? What is her basis? Her computation is wrong,” he said.

Panelo, however, claimed that the anti-drug campaign could not be considered a failure even if the one percent figure were true.

“There must be an explanation for that... It doesn’t mean it was a failure even if it’s one percent. How can it be a failure? I already cited the results of the fight against drugs. Many factories were destroyed, many people were arrested, many people were charged, many people have been rehabilitated,” he said.

“I think (Robredo) just wants to be relevant,” he added.

Panelo expressed confidence that Robredo’s remarks would not affect Duterte’s approval ratings. He said the administration remains open to the Vice President’s suggestions on how to improve the campaign against illegal drugs.

“The (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency or PDEA) are the experts on that and they will evaluate that. They will relay that to the President if the observations are OK, but so far, I don’t see any basis (to do it),” Panelo said.

‘Mere political attack’

The PDEA dismissed Robredo’s recommendations as “mere political attack” against Duterte.

PDEA director general Aaron Aquino said he was saddened by the Vice President’s statement following her 18-day stint as his co-chair in the ICAD.

Robredo “dismissed and ignored” the government’s accomplishments and efforts for the past three years in her less than three-week stint, according to Aquino.

The PDEA claimed that it has seized an estimated P45 billion worth of illegal drugs since 2016.

Over 162,000 anti-illegal drug operations have also led to the arrest of 225,284 suspects, data showed.

Aquino also noted that 49 percent of the 33,381 drug-affected barangays have been cleared out since the start of the administration. – With Romina Cabrera, Emmanuel Tupas, Paolo Romero