MANILA – Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan dared President Rodrigo Duterte to give Vice President Leni Robredo three years at the helm of the country’s law enforcement rather than six months.
Pangilinan on Monday said Duterte should cede his remaining three years to Robredo since he was already in the power for the last three years.
“Bakit naman six months lang? Gawin na nilang three years at sigurado ako hindi na papalusutin ang tone-toneladang ‘shabu’ sa Bureau of Customs, wala na ang araw-araw na patayan ng mahihirap nating mga kababayan habang mga ‘ninja cops’ at sindikato ay binibigyan ng mataas na posisyon, pinalalaya dahil sa Good Conduct Time Allowance o inaabswelto at sigurado na hindi na tayo walang imik at sunud-sunuran sa China,” Pangilinan said.
“Three years na nilang hawak ang law enforcement so dapat lang 3 years din ang ibigay na oras para fair!” he added.
Pangilinan’s statement was despite Duterte’s clarification that he was not surrendering anything to Robredo – but wanted to commission her as “anti-drug czar” for six months.
Robredo, who has been “noisy” in the past few days on calling the administration’s war on drugs as a failure, was conspicuously silent on Duterte’s challenge to her.
Meanwhile, senators Panfilo Lacson and Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa said on Tuesday Duterte is still the “best person” to lead the country’s drug war campaign.
“I don’t want our country to become another Mexico so PRRD should tighten his grip on the drug situation instead of leasing his power to anybody who has no proven track record in crime fighting especially in the arena of drugs,” Dela Rosa added.
Lacson said that only the President can wield sufficient authority and power over the law enforcement officials unless he delegates a blanket authority, including the power to hire and fire.
Robredo recently branded Duterte’s anti-narcotics campaign as a “failure” and that the Chief Executive should allow the United Nations to investigate into his war on drugs.
After drawing flak, Robredo clarified on Monday that she meant to urge the administration leaders to “step back and assess” the narcotics crackdown./PN
