Palace downplays Robredo's assessment vs war on drugs
Malacanang said on Monday that Vice President Leni Robredo just wants to be "relevant" as it leaves to the concerned agencies to explain the figures on the administration's war on drugs being questioned by the leader of the opposition party.
In a press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency would have an explanation for the figures which Robredo cited, prompting her to conclude that the administration's campaign against illegal drugs was a failure.
"I'd rather wait for the PDEA, as well as those involved to respond to that because they are the ones who knew if the figures she (Robredo) had cited were right and why they were like that," he said.
"There must be some explanation for that...but it doesn't mean that this is a failure, even assuming that to be true," he added.
Robredo, who co-chaired the Interagency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs for a little over two weeks only last November, came out with her report on what she had discovered and her assessment of the government's war on drugs during her short stint at the agency.
"Amid the thousands of Filipinos killed and money used for the campaign, only one percent of shabu supply and money from illegal drugs was taken by the government," she said, citing data from the PNP, PDEA and the Anti-Money Laundering Council.
With Robredo's criticisms, Panelo slammed the vice president, saying she only wants to be relevant.
He wondered how Robredo could explain those high-value targets who were arrested or neutralized and the huge haul of illegal drugs.
"I think she just wants to be relevant," said Panelo, also the chief presidential legal counsel. Celerina Monte/DMS
