Robredo says to continue anti-drug campaign, 'Build, Build, Build,' but with tweaks
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo, who is running for president in the 2022 elections, promised to continue the Duterte administration’s anti-drug campaign and his flagship “ Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program, but with tweaks.
Robredo said her administration will pursue an anti-drug campaign with the same intensity as the Duterte administration, but will move away from the current administration’s approach that has been heavy on law enforcement.
“Hindi pwedeng enforcement lang. Nakita natin over the past five and a half years, sobrang daming namatay. Pero ang question, nawala ba [ang droga?] Ang sagot, hindi,” Robredo told local media in Sorsogon City.
(It cannot be just focused on enforcement alone. We saw over the past five and a half years, a lot have died. But the question is, did drugs disappear? The answer is no.)
Instead of a heavy-handed crackdown on illegal drugs, Robredo said her campaign against these substances will focus on prevention and rehabilitation, drawing from experiences from other countries that have pursued a more “holistic” approach towards drugs.
The vice president is a staunch critic of the Duterte administration’s brutal campaign against drugs that has seen 6,191 people killed in anti-drug operations, according to government data as of August 31. Human rights organizations say that the number of people who have been killed during the course of the “drug war” is significantly higher than this.
Robredo landed a role as the government’s anti-drug czar when Duterte appointed her as co-chair of the Inter-agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs after she described the “drug war” a failure.
She, however, only held this position for a mere 18 days as Duterte fired her for speaking with foreigners, asking what her powers were and for supposedly daring the president to kick her out of the office.
Robredo also said she will continue the Duterte administration’s ambitious infrastructure program, but will make tweaks to it to make sure that projects will have a direct impact on the marginalized.
She said she will push to build infrastructure needed by farmers and fishermen like farm-to-market roads, cold storage facilities and solar dryers.
She added that she will pursue improvements to the country’s mass transport system and develop rural areas.
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