Vice President Leni Robredo met with the Law Enforcement Cluster of the Inter-agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD), held at the Quezon City Reception House on Thursday, November 14, 2019. (Photo by OVP)
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� Vice President Leni Robredo has assured the Duterte administration that she knows the difference between promoting transparency in the drug war and the need to keep confidential data private.
Robredo, appointed as the co-chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD), has been adamant about obtaining baseline data 鈥� including numbers of high-value targets (HVT) 鈥� about the drug war.
鈥淣aiintindihan ko naman kung ano 鈥榶ong mga hindi pwedeng sabihin sa media, kung sensitive hindi 鈥榶on pwede,鈥� Robredo said during a radio interview with DZXL on Sunday morning.
鈥淢agiging transparent as possible sa mga nangyayari pero hindi natin ida-divulge 鈥榶ong mga sensitive information na makakasama sa kampanya,鈥� she added.
(I understand what kind of things I can tell the media, and if it is sensitive then I cannot talk about it.听 We want to be as transparent as possible about the program but we would not divulge sensitive information that would harm the campaign.)
These remarks from the Vice President came after various government officials 鈥� including President Rodrigo Duterte himself 鈥� warned Robredo not to divulge information that may jeopardize national security.
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Ricojudge Echiverri previously pleaded Robredo not to turn against them (鈥渨alang laglagan鈥�) once she gets a copy of the drug war data, while her co-chair in the ICAD, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Aaron Aquino, questioned why she is asking for HVT records.
READ: PDEA chief asks Leni Robredo: 鈥榃hy need a list of high-value drug targets?鈥�
Robredo said that the term 鈥榣aglagan鈥� gives off a negative connotation that there is something being hidden away from the public鈥檚 eyes 鈥� stressing the need to promote transparency about the controversial anti-drug program.
鈥淣apaka-husay naman ng ginagawa ng DILG dito, sa tingin ko wala naman silang tinatago na anything,鈥� Robredo said of Echiverri鈥檚 request.听 鈥淭ingin ko alam naman nila 鈥榶on.听 Saka 鈥榶ong term kasi na 鈥榣aglagan鈥� parang may negative connotation parang may tinatago, eh 鈥榶on nga 鈥榶ong gusto nating alisin.
鈥溾�榊ong transparency mahalaga 鈥榶on kasi 鈥榶on 鈥榶ong nage-exact ng accountability sa mga opisyal.听 Kung tinatago natin lahat, paapaano natin mapapanagot 鈥榶ong mga hindi ginagawa 鈥榶ong kanilang mga trabaho, papaano natin mapapanagot 鈥榶ong may katiwalian?鈥� she asked.
(The DILG is doing an excellent job; I think they鈥檙e not hiding anything. They know that. And the term 鈥榣aglagan鈥� has kind of a negative connotation that they鈥檙e hiding something; that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e trying to remove. Transparency is important because this exacts accountability on officials. If we hide everything, how can we hold accountable those who don鈥檛 do their jobs and those who are corrupt?)
Last November 6, Robredo accepted Duterte鈥檚 offer to lead the drug war, which has been called out for being bloody and anti-poor.
Most of the over 5,500 casualties the government has recorded came from families living along the poverty lines 鈥� indicating that not most of high-value targets have been held accountable.
Robredo said that the primary consideration in accepting the post was to avoid senseless killings.听 In doing so, she has requested agencies to provide her numbers of the drug war 鈥� from its conception in 2016 up to present.
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