Robredo to PNP, PDEA: 'Wrong' ICAD data came from you
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 8) – Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo has one thing to say to the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency dismissing her findings as former drug czar: you supplied the same data that you are questioning.
"'Pag sinabi nilang mali 'yung data ko, eh galing 'yun sa kanila," Robredo said Wednesday in a forum in Manila.
[Translation: When they say that my data is wrong, well that was sourced from them.]
"Yung PDEA saka PNP, hindi lang sila myembro ng ICAD (Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs) pero kabahagi sila pareho ng enforcement cluster. So 'pag may binigay na data ang PNP, dapat tanggapin yun ng PDEA," she said.
[Translation: PDEA and PNP are not only members of ICAD, but they are also both part of the enforcement cluster. So if PNP has provided data, the PDEA should have accepted it.]
Robredo noted that since PNP has given its estimate on the drug war figures, PDEA should have corrected it in the first place.
"Kung mali yung estimate na 'yun [ng PNP] dapat kinorrect ng PDEA. Wala naman silang ginawa. Wala silang ginawang correction. Kung hindi nila 'yun kinorrect, gusto kong sabihin, yun yung data ng ICAD," she added.
[Translation: If PNP's estimates were wrong, PDEA should have corrected it. They did not do anything. They did not do any correction. But since they did not correct, I want to say that that is the data of ICAD.]
Robredo was responding to recent statements of Lieutenant General Archie Gamboa, officer-in-charge of the PNP, and PDEA chief Director General Aaron Aquino, who was her co-chair in the ICAD for 18 days.
The Vice President gave on Monday her findings and recommendations on the narcotics campaign, but Gamboa said that the figures derived were "totally wrong."
Meanwhile, Aquino dismissed Robredo's findings as a "mere political attack" against President Rodrigo Duterte.
Records from the PNP that Robredo cited show that of 3,000 kilograms of shabu consumed per week worth ₱25 billion, the PDEA only seized 1,344 kilos in 2019 alone.
There were other inconsistencies in the reports by government agencies, according to Robredo.
She said that while ICAD reported a total of 4 million drug users in the country, the Dangerous Drugs Board only pegged the figure at 1.8 million. President Rodrigo Duterte, on the other hand, said that there were 7 to 8 million users – a claim which the Presidential Communications Operation Office (PCOO) said had lacked basis at all.
Robredo previously claimed the Duterte administration's narcotics campaign was a "massive failure" with a measly score of 1 over 100 – not only for lack of coordination among government agencies in eradicating drugs and handling surrenderees, but primarily for only capturing less than one percent of shabu and drug money in the past three years.
"Nasa kanya (Duterte) naman kung may susundin siyang rekomendasyon o wala. 'Yung report ko naman...hindi siya basta criticism, pero sinasabi kung ano ang nakita nating mali, ano 'yung nakikita nating needs improvement at ito 'yung ating rekomendasyon," she said.
[Translation: It is up to the President whether he will follow any of the recommendations or not. My report is not just pure criticism, but whatever we see wrong, whatever we think needs improvement, this is our recommendation.]
READ: Robredo's drug war recommendations
CNN Philippines Correspondent AC Nicholls contributed to this report.
