MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang’s admission that it’s not reading the drug war reports sent by Vice President Leni Robredo prompted her to just publicize her findings.

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Robredo revealed this Wednesday amid suggestions that she should have first talked to President Rodrigo Duterte before making public her report on the drug war.

Robredo told the public on Monday about her observations and findings of the Duterte administration’s drug war during her 18-day stint as a co-chair of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD).

“Kaya nag-decide ako na iyong final report ko, to make it public, kasi iyong first two reports ko, ano iyon eh, it was a personal communication to the President, na ang inaasahan ko sana, tayo na lang ang mag-usap,” she said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay.

(I decided to make my final report public because my first two reports, it was a personal communication to the President, in which I expected that we’d just talk about it.)

“Iyong mga rekomendasyon ko, hindi ko naman kailangang ihayag pa, aksyunan niya na lang. Pero noong sinabi ni Secretary (Salvador) Panelo na hindi naman binasa, that was the time that I decided to make the final report public,” she added.

(I wouldn’t have to announce my recommendations, he should have just taken action. But when Secretary Panelo said my reports were not read, that was the time that I decided to make the final report public.)

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A day after Duterte fired Robredo as ICAD co-chair in November 2019, Panelo admitted that the President has yet to read Robredo’s reports noting it might have been stuck under a pile of other papers.

Robredo said the reports she submitted to Malacañang were the perfect chance for her to inform Duterte of her grievances about the drug war since she highlighted aspects of the campaign that need more attention and improvement.

“I was in ICAD for 18 days. Every week that I was there, nagpapadala ako ng report kay Pangulo (I send report to the President) – what transpired, ano iyong mga nakita kong mali (what wrong thngs I see), ano iyong recommendations (my recommendations),” she explained.

“So iyong sa akin, kaya I made public the report, kasi hopefully mapakita ko […] na puwede nating ma-achieve ito na walang maraming buhay na mabubuwis,” she noted.

(So for me, the reason why I made public the report, because hopefully I can show that progress in the drug war can be achieved without killing so many people.)

Duterte appointed Robredo to the ICAD post on October 31, 2019, apparently out of frustration since the Vice President then told foreign media that the drug war has to be stopped. Robredo subsequently pointed out that the Duterte administration’s war on drugs must be reassessed because the illegal drug trade still flourishes in the country despite thousands of lives claimed under the brutal campaign.

Edited by KGA

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