PDEA chief: Robredo would be an epic failure as drug czar, 'kulang sa experience!'




PDEA chief
Aaron Aquino and Vice President Leni Robredo/photo courtesy of Polotiko and Tempo



In an interview on CNN Philippines’ “The Source” Monday (November 4), the chief of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Aaron Aquino is certain that Vice President Leni Robredo will only fail once she accepts President Rodrigo Duterte's offer to lead the government’s anti-drug campaign. 

“Personally, if you will ask me, sa palagay ko she will fail,” the PDEA chief said



Aquino said the vice president said does not have extensive knowledge about fighting illegal drugs nor enough experience on how to tackle the country’s drug problem.

“I’ve been in the Philippine National Police for 36 years. I’ve been in PDEA for more than two years. It’s only now that I became the director general of PDEA that I have known what is the real problem on illegal drugs,” Aquino said.

 “Experience-wise, this has been my job for 38 years. The vice president doesn’t have that experience.” Aquino added.



The PDEA chief even compared Robredo, to Duterte who has an extensive experience about battling illegal drugs ever since he was mayor of Davao City.

However, Aquino assured the Vice President of PDEA will give "101% support" to Robredo should she accept the president’s offer.

On the other hand, Barry Gutierrez, Robredo’s spokesperson, lambasted Aquino for questioning the vice president’s capability to lead the drug war campaign.



“Paano ka namang maniniwala na seryoso itong alok na maging 'drug czar' kung ngayon pa lang, sinisiraan na agad si VP Leni ng mga taong dapat magpapatupad ng kampanya laban sa droga?” Gutierrez said.

“Paano magiging maayos ang trabaho mo, kung ngayon pa lang, yung taong makakasama mo sa trabaho ay ayaw kang magtagumpay? Mukhang nagiging malinaw kung ano talaga ang totoong agenda sa usapang ito.” Gutierrez added.

President Duterte announced last week that he would be transferring his “law enforcement powers” to Robredo after the vice president call out the administration to assess and tweak the strategies used in the drug war campaign by the administration.

Robredo however, refused to comment on the chief executive’s offer, saying she will not take the offer seriously.



Until recently, the president made a new announcement regarding his offer to Robredo to lead the anti-drug campaign as the president claimed that he is ready to appoint the vice president in a Cabinet capacity as drug czar.

The position of drug czar is not an official rank or title in the Philippine government, although it is referred colloquially to PDEA chief.

The vice president’s camp emphasized that Robredo should not be used as a scapegoat for the administration’s failure of the drug war campaign.

“This admin made the impossible promise to end crime and drugs in six months, and if they are now being called to account for their failure to deliver, they should not blame VP Leni for it,” Gutierrez stressed on Thursday.





Source: Philstar 

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