Robredo: I called for review of, not halt to 'drug war'

MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Leni Robredo on Sunday issued a clarification on her recent remarks on President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs in after her supposed remarks earned her criticism from the administration.

On her radio show, Robredo said the headline on a report by Reuters that she wanted to stop Duterte’s drug war was wrong. The headline of the article dated October 23 was: "Philippine vice president says time for Duterte to halt failed drug war."

According to the vice president, she only wanted the government to review and tweak the controversial "war on drugs", which has been criticized by local and international human rights organizationz.

“Kapag tiningnan mo… iyong interview ko, iba iyong sinabi ko. Kapag tiningnan mo iyong interview ko, ang sinabi ko, dapat i-assess ng pamahalaan kung tama pa ba iyong strategy na ginagamit. Kasi kung mali na, kailangang i-tweak. ‘Di ba… ang gustong sabihin ng “tweak,” himasin, o ibahin nang kaunti,” Robredo said on her weekly radio show Biserbisyong Leni.

(If you check my interview, what I said was different. If you check my interview, what I said is that the government should assess if it is using a correct strategy. If it’s wrong, they should tweak it. Right? What I wanted to say was 'tweak', relax it or change it a little bit.)

“Kaya iyong— Nabasa ko iyong headline, eh; mali iyon. Iyong headline, mali, kasi binalikan ko iyong video, binalikan ko iyong transcript, wala akong sinabing ihinto iyong kampanya. Ang sinabi ko, i-tweak. At kapag i-tweak, i-assess lang kung ano iyong mali,” she concluded.

(That’s why— when I read the headline, that’s wong. The headline is wrong because I reviewed the video, I reviewed the transcript, I did not say that the government should stop the campaign. I said tweak and when you tweak, you just assess what is wrong)

'Obviously, it's not working'

Reuters earlier quoted Robredo as saying the following:

“We ask ourselves, ‘why is this still happening?’. The president has already made very serious threats to drug syndicates, to drug lords ... and yet it’s still very prevalent, so obviously, it’s not working,” the vice president said.

“We have seen a lot of police that have abused their powers and not been penalized so this is where the International Criminal Court could come in, if we do not show the world that we can take care of our own mess,” she added.

“The lives of our people are on the line and the dignity of our country is on the line, but my first call is for our government to take care of the mess,” she also said.

'Black propaganda,' Palace says

Robredo’s quoted statement on the Reuters article did not sit well with the Palace.

Duterte’s spokesman Salvador Panelo criticized Robredo for supposedly engaging in black propaganda against the administration.

“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 chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council but she resigned in December 2016, just six months into office.

READ: Leni to resign as HUDCC chief, vows to protect vice presidency

'Why should we end the drug war?'

Meanwhile, Interior and Local Government chief Eduardo Año and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief Aaron Aquino both disagreed with Robredo’s statement, saying there is no need to stop the anti-narcotics campaign.

“The war on drugs must continue without letup but with the rule of law keenly observed,” Año said.

READ: No reason to stop drug war — Año

Aquino, on the other hand, said PDEA doesn’t consider the drug war a failure. He said that majority of the Filipinos are “satisfied” with the government’s drug war.

“Kapag itinigil ang kampanya laban sa iligal na droga, mamamayagpag na naman lahat ng mga drug lords, lahat ng mga drug pusher, mga user natin,” Aquino was quoted by reports as saying.

(If we stop the campaign against illegal drugs, drug lords, all the drug pushers and users will once again flourish)

“Sayang naman yung pinasimulan natin. Ang laki na ng accomplishments natin, bakit ngayon pa hihinto?”

(We have come a long way. We already have a huge accomplishment, why should we stop?)

'Too many deaths, abuse'

For her part, Robredo said she only wanted to change some strategies that she said do not work.

She added that she reviewed the data of the Dangerous Drug Boards from before Duterte took over in 2016.

Robredo said the data said there are 1.8 million drug users but in Duterte’s speech in 2017, the president said the numbers rose to four million. She added that Duterte’s speech in February this year also mentioned that there are not seven to eight million drug users.

“Iyong numbers, hindi galing sa akin. Iyong numbers, galing mismo kay Pangulo. So ‘di ba tama lang—ano ba iyong maling sinabi ko?— Hindi ba tama lang na i-assess mo kung ano iyong hindi nagwo-work doon sa kampanya? Kasi kung nagsimula ka na 1.4 million, despite the campaign naging 7 to 8 million na siya, mayroong hindi nagwo-work,” Robredo said.

(The numbers are not from me. The numbers are from the president himself. So, it’s just right – what’s wrong with what I said? It is but right to asses those that didn’t work out in the campaign, right? Because if you start at 1.4 million, despite the campaign it became seven to eight million, something doesn’t work out)

'Drug war' casualties

The vice president also lamented the casualties of the drug war.

“Hindi natin alam iyong exact numbers, kasi mayroong debate tungkol sa exact numbers. Pero sobra nang daming namatay. At karamihan sa mga namatay, mga mahihirap. Kung ang dami nang namatay, tapos paakyat pa nang paakyat iyong numero, kailangan... kailangan mong i-assess,” Robredo said.

(We don’t know the exact numbers because there’s a debate on the exact numbers. But several died. Among the fatalities are the poor. So if there are several deaths and the numbers continue to rise, it should be assessed)

“Sobrang dami na ng mga pulis na nang-abuso sa mandatong binigay sa kanila. Iyong tanong din, ilan ba doon sa mga nang-abuso iyong naparusahan na?” she added.

(Several police have abused their mandates. The question is how many of those who abused their authorities have been punished?”)

Robredo also mentioned the issue on 'ninja cops', or corrupt police officers  accused of selling drugs seized from operations.

She also addressed those who are criticizing her of disregarding the number of drug users who surrendered to the authorities, saying these figures are significant but do not show the whole picture of the "drug war."

According to PDEA’s “Real Numbers,” in the 123, 441 anti-drug operations conducted from July 1, 2016 to Feb. 28, 2019, only 5,281 "drug personalities" have died. A report from Human Rights Watch, however, said the drug war has claimed more than 22,000 lives.

The PNP classified these deaths as “homicides under investigation.”