Palace says if Robredo discovered irregularities during her ICAD stint, she should have disclosed them
Vice President Leni Robredo should have revealed immediately to the public any irregularity that she discovered during her short stint as anti-illegal drug czar, Malacañang said on Tuesday.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo made the statement following Robredo's plan to report to the nation soon what she had learned during her more than two-week stay as co-chair of the Inter-Agency Committee on Illegal Drugs.
"First of all, if she learned something bad, she should have immediately disclosed it. Does it mean that when she was with the administration whatever bad or illegal thing she discovered she would not reveal it and now that she is already outside (the administration), she will reveal it? Is that the type of vice president if she is like that?" he said in a radio interview.
Panelo, also the chief presidential legal counsel, said the mere fact that ICAD and other government agencies allowed her access to information on the war on drugs, these entities were not hiding anything.
"So what are those that you (Robredo) said you have discovered? You did not discover them, they were all given to you. Isn't it? They're open," he said.
Panelo said what could have been discovered by the vice president was the lack of budget.
"That's what you had said, that's the reason why you're asking for (additional) budget," he said.
The official said the Palace was not sure if Robredo was just bluffing.
He added that Robredo was "talking non-sense."
On the vice president's statement that she was not yet done with her job despite her removal from ICAD, Panelo scorned Robredo, saying she was not yet finished committing mistakes.
Duterte fired Robredo whom he did not trust after claiming that she committed "missteps" when she sought for the list of high value targets in the war on drugs and allegedly talking with the international bodies and foreign individuals who were critical of the bloody campaign against illegal narcotics. Celerina Monte/DMS