Robredo: Anti-drug program must focus on prevention, rehab

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo yesterday bared some of her plans and priorities if elected president, including an anti-illegal drug program that focuses on prevention and rehabilitation.

“We saw in the past five years that the drug war was conducted in a way that was too heavy on enforcement – I do not believe that,” she said in Filipino during a press conference in Albay.

“We need to learn from the lessons of other countries… those that resorted to killings, those that resorted to violence as a means of eradicating the drug problem, did not succeed. But the countries that have a more holistic approach in the problem, they were the ones who were successful,” she said.

A vocal critic of the Duterte administration’s deadly war against illegal drugs, Robredo recalled some of her recommendations during a short stint as co-chair of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) in 2019.

“My first recommendation after I stepped down as ICAD co-chair was to change the entire system… (that) contributes to the focus on enforcement,” she said, noting that it is chaired by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

“The mandate of PDEA is more on the enforcement side. So for me, my first recommendation is to make the DDB – the Dangerous Drugs Board – as ICAD chair,” she added.

With the DDB at the helm, the Vice President said the roadmap to address the drug problem will have a more holistic approach that goes beyond enforcement.

“My belief is that if the DDB will sit as the chair, the plan is not just ‘kill, kill, kill.’ The plan will be comprehensive – heavy on prevention, heavy on rehabilitation,” she added.

In 2019, Robredo accepted Duterte’s dare for her to lead the ICAD following her continued criticisms of the killings related to the drug war.

She was fired 18 days later for supposed “missteps,” including meeting with various stakeholders and foreign agencies.

Robredo submitted a comprehensive report and recommendations to Malacañang.

Build, Build, Build

During the press briefing, Robredo also expressed her willingness to continue with the government’s “Build, Build, Build” program, but stressed that infrastructure projects must have a direct impact on the poorest Filipinos.

“My priority programs will be those that will help alleviate poverty. No amount of success will be enough if many remain on the fringes of society,” she said. “Our infrastructure should spur rural development because it is too concentrated in Metro Manila.”

She cited projects that will directly benefit farmers and fisherfolk, including farm-to-market roads, cold storage facilities, solar dryers and fish pens.

The Vice President also stressed the importance of improving the mass transport system.

“It is all right to add more roads, but if we fail to improve our mass transport system, those who rely on it – the people who commute – will continue to suffer,” she said.

No. 1 priority

Robredo said controlling the pandemic and mitigating its effects will be her number one priority if elected president.

“If I get the opportunity, that will be the first thing that I will do: make sure that we can reopen and return to normal, make sure that our new normal will be better than the previous normal,” she said.

“Maybe we will not be able to bring the transmission down to zero because we need to live with (the virus). But for me, we did such a terrible job in the last one and a half years,” she said, noting the latest COVID Resiliency Ranking released by Bloomberg, which saw the Philippines at the tailend in terms of pandemic response among 53 economies.

The country will not be able to reopen and build back better if the government keeps on imposing lockdowns whenever COVID-19 cases surge, she said, as everyone will be on a “rollercoaster” as the pandemic situation alternately improves and deteriorates.

Robredo said vaccinating the greater part of population is a necessary first step toward reopening the economy. She also stressed the need to reopen schools, strengthen the health care system and make regions like calamity-prone Bicol more resilient against climate change.

If elected president, Vice President Leni Robredo said her vice president – regardless of political party – will have a big role in her administration.

“If I get the chance, I will not do to the vice president what I experienced as Vice President now,” she said in Filipino during a press conference in Sorsogon. “My belief is that the country will benefit if the president and vice president work well together.”

Iloilo for Robredo

In Iloilo City, provincial Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. has thrown support for the 2022 presidential bid of Robredo.

Defensor’s statement on Thursday came more than a week after Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas also publicly announced that he’s supporting Robredo.

In supporting the Vice President, Defensor recalled his good working relationship with Robredo during the 16th Congress – she as representative of Camarines Sur while he was congressman for Iloilo’s third district.

But Defensor quickly pointed out that his statement of support could not be construed as an endorsement, explaining the term is used more for campaign purposes.

He stressed, though, that he doesn’t want to pre-empt an official endorsement coming from his party, the National Unity Party.

In supporting Robredo, Defensor claimed he saw her sincerity in helping the Ilonggos and propelling the “MoRe Progress Iloilo” or the Movement for Resurgent, Progressive, Globally Competitive and Resilient Iloilo.

Defensor’s local party, Uswag Ilonggo, formulated MoRe Progress Iloilo as their battlecry. It aims to increase investment and employment services in Iloilo.

Its goal was also to ensure food security; accessible health and social services; protection and sustainable management of resources and assets of the province and effective, efficient and transparent government administrative service.

Defensor believes that Robredo is with him in his vision to propel the province.

The governor also said he would support the candidacy of Sen. Francis Pangilinan for vice president.

Meanwhile, Mayor Raul Banias of Concepcion town yesterday became the latest elected official here to express support for Robredo.

On Facebook, Banias posted a photo of him and Robredo during the Vice President’s visit in Concepcion in March 2021.

He captioned it, “Good Friday Morning halin sa kay
Mayor Doc kag kay VP Leni (Good Friday morning from Mayor Doc and from VP Leni).”

Banias, former Iloilo provincial administrator and presidential adviser for Western Visayas, is a physician.