VP Leni on war vs illegal drugs: Safeguards will prevent EJKs

Vice President Leni Robredo said she has high hopes that there are enough safeguards to prevent a repeat of the human rights abuses and extrajudicial killings with the new order that brought back the police to fight illegal drugs.

In a radio interview, Robredo said the government should ensure that the spate of drug-related killings would not happen again.

“Tumitiwala tayo na iyong safeguards para hindi na maulit iyong dating patayan na walang dahilan, para hindi na maulit iyong extrajudicial killings (We trust the safeguards will prevent the repeat of the past killings so the extrajudicial killings won’t happen again.),” the Vice President said.

Robredo, a human rights lawyer, recalled the violence and fears the public had to go through due to the drugrelated deaths.

Thousands have died in legitimate police operations and apparent summary executions since Duterte waged war against drugs.

“Ito pong mga bagay na ito, ito iyong nagko-cause ng pagkakawatak-watak nating mga Pilipino (These are the things causing division to us Filipinos),” she noted.

Robredo is hopeful that the killings would not be used anymore as a way to address the drug problem as the PNP returned to the government’s anti-drug campaign.

In the previous months, it went well in the sense there was an opportunity to look at rehabilitation as a means to resolve the problem in the war on drugs, she said in Tagalog.

“Kasi oras na bumalik iyong patayan, mag-aaway-away na naman iyong mga tao kasi maraming hindi pagkakaintindihan (Because once the killings return, people will fight each other again due to misunderstanding),” she said.