{"id":1186225,"date":"2019-11-06T04:58:26","date_gmt":"2019-11-05T20:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/?p=1186225"},"modified":"2019-11-06T09:06:41","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T01:06:41","slug":"duterte-move-hit-robredo-being-set-up-to-fail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/1186225\/duterte-move-hit-robredo-being-set-up-to-fail","title":{"rendered":"Duterte move hit: Robredo \u2018being set up to fail\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Vice President Leni Robredo (Photo by Charlie Villegas \/ OVP)<\/p><\/div>\n

MANILA, Philippines \u2014 President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Vice President Leni Robredo as co-chair of an interagency committee against narcotics, but a spokesperson for the country\u2019s No. 2 says the vice presidency does not see the offer as serious because the position is nonexistent.<\/p>\n

A member of Robredo\u2019s Liberal Party said on Tuesday that the Vice President was \u201cbeing set up to fail\u201d with her appointment as cochair of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs.<\/p>\n

Hours after Malaca\u00f1ang announced Robredo\u2019s appointment, her spokesperson, Barry Gutierrez, said the Vice President had not yet accepted her appointment.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can we accept the position when it is meaningless? If you look at the executive order creating the [committee], the co-chair post is nonexistent,\u201d Gutierrez told a news conference on Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n

Comments and suggestions<\/strong><\/p>\n

But he did not say whether Robredo would accept or reject the appointment.<\/p>\n

He said Robredo would \u201cdirectly communicate\u201d with the President on Wednesday to list down her comments and suggestions to help the government\u2019s war on drugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this point, the talk is not whether she accepts or not. She has not asked for an appointment. This position is nonexistent and has no power,\u201d Gutierrez said.<\/p>\n

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Gutierrez was wrong. He said President Duterte had the \u201ccontinuing authority to reorganize the bureaucracy\u201d so there was no need to amend the executive order to create a position for Robredo on the interagency committee.<\/p>\n

Last week, Gutierrez said the President\u2019s talk of offering Robredo the job of leading the war on drugs was to make her a scapegoat for the shortcomings of his campaign against narcotics.<\/p>\n

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman issued a statement on Tuesday pointing out that the co-chairmanship of the interagency committee was \u201cvastly different\u201d from the President\u2019s original offer to her to be his drug czar.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe diluted position validates the fear that the Vice President is being set up to fail,\u201d Lagman said.<\/p>\n

He cited the prediction of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief Aaron Aquino, the chair of the committee, that Robredo would fail as leader of the war on drugs.<\/p>\n