MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Leni Robredo fired back at critics on Tuesday, asking why President Rodrigo Duterte was willing to let her lead his drug war if the campaign had really been successful.
Robredo said this after some critics considered her refusal to comment on the President’s dare to be “drug czar” as her inability to “walk the talk.”
“If there is no failure [of the drug war], why would they pass it to me? Because you are only going to hand over a project once you can no longer fulfill it. If it is successful, there is no need to pass it over, because you have already done it well,” she told reporters in Iloilo City.
“But if you are going to pass it, isn’t that an admission that you still have a lot to do?” she added.
On Monday, the President said he would surrender his law enforcement powers to Robredo, after the latter criticized the drug war again.
Robredo said she was only calling for a reassessment — not the total scrapping — of the drug war.
On the President’s proposal, Robredo said she would respond if the administration was serious.
Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the challenge was serious, saying that he had texted the Vice President.
Robredo frowned on this, asking the Malacañang to respect her office by not relaying “important matters” through text messages.
“Dios ko naman. Unang una, wala akong natanggap. Saka kung seryoso, bakit ite-text, di ba?” she said after being asked about the issue by reporters in Iloilo City.
[My God. First of all, I didn’t receive any message. And if it’s serious, why text it?]
“Kahit walang paggalang sa akin, igalang na lang iyong posisyon. Kung ite-text ka ng isang bagay na ganiyan, hindi iyon seryoso. Kasi marami namang paraan para ipaabot sa akin kung talagang… talagang seryoso. Pero iyong sa akin lang, ano ba naman iyan?” she added.
[If they don’t respect me, just respect the position. If they text such matters, then they’re not serious. There are many other ways to let me know they’re serious. What’s this all about?”