MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Francis Pangilinan on his personal Facebook page Wednesday expressed concern over Vice President Leni Robredo's sudden "co-chair" appointment instead of the initially-offered "drug czar" position.
He also called for the Duterte administration to retool its approach towards illegal drugs as a health problem.
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Just one life saved
This came after Robredo was named co-chair of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) in a document released by the Palace on Tuesday. Robredo the following afternoon officially accepted her appointment.
"Kahit sabihin na natin na ang alok na ito ay pamumulitika lamang at hindi naman talaga akong susundin ng mga ahensya, [ay] handa akong tiisin ang lahat na ito," she said in her statement.
"Dahil kung mayroon akong maliligtas na kahit isang inosenteng buhay, ang sinasabi ng prinsipyo at puso ko ay kailangan ko itong subukan."
(Even if we suppose that this offer is simply politicking and these agencies would not even follow me, I am ready to endure all of this. Because if I can save even one innocent life, my principles and my heart tell me that I need to try.)
On October 28, President Duterte announced that he would extend to Robredo an offer to be the "drug czar" for six months. The challenge came amid Robredo's call for the administration to rethink their approach towards illegal drugs.
"Kataka-taka lang ang motibo ng Malacañang sa pagtalaga kay VP Leni Robredo bilang co-chairperson ng grupo laban sa ilegal na droga. Malayo sa naunang pronouncement na itatalaga si VP bilang drug czar," he said in his post.
"Bakit biglang co-chair na lang? Takot ba sila na bigyan ng tunay na kapangyarihan si VP at baka masapawan sila o may tamaan?" Pangilinan called.
(Malacañang's appointment of Vice President Leni Robredo as co-chairperson of the group against illegal drugs is suspicious. The appointment is a far cry from their first offer that they would appoint her as drug czar. Why is it suddenly co-chair instead? Are they scared to give her a real chance for fear that she might outdo them?)
Killing is not the answer
In an earlier response to the offer, the senator sounded off on his Facebook page, saying that the vice president should be given three years instead of six months to make the offer a more fair one.
Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo replied to this, saying, "I think the good senator is engaged in wishful thinking if not in a daylight nightmare."
"Drug addiction is a health problem," the senator asserted in his post. "It is largely rooted in poverty and inequality. Gutom, kahirapan, at ang paghahari-harian ng iilan ang problema ng bayan."
Even Malacanang explicitly acknowledged the drug problem as such.
"Having created enough [awareness] about it, we will now enter the second phase of the drug situation," then-presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said in an interview with CNN Philippines in 2016. "It's now shifted from a national security issue more into a public health issue."
Yet Duterte has on occasion implied that some drug addicts are beyond recovery. In a 2016 speech, the chief executive said that sustained methamphetamine use that lasts for a year or more would shrink the brain of a person, even adding, “Therefore he is no longer viable for rehabilitation.”
And despite Malacañang's supposed shift in perspective towards the illegal drug problem, the United Nations in 2019 once again called on President Rodrigo Duterte to adopt a more "public health approach” in combating illegal drugs.
"Hindi masosolusyunan ng pagtutok sa maliliit na drug user at pusher ang problema ng droga. At hindi masosolusyunan ng pagpatay ang problema ng gutom at kahirapan," Pangilinan finished.
(Focusing on the small-time users and pushers will not solve the problem of drugs, and killing will not solve hunger and poverty.)
Three years after Abella's statement, the death toll of the war on drugs has ballooned to 12,000 lives lost according to figures from the Human Rights Watch.
March data from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, which is the most recent data available on its website as of this writing, at least 5,375 "drug personalities" have been killed in official police operations since July 2016.
"Tutol ako sa pagpatay ng inosente. Kontra ako sa pang-aabuso ng opisyal," Robredo said in accepting the offer. "Ang tanong ko, handa ba kayo para sa akin?"
(I am against the killing of innocent lives and the abuse of officials. My question is, are you ready for me?)