Leni slams Rody’s recycled rants on drug links

Focus on problems that are making life difficult for Filipinos.

This was Vice President Leni Robredo’s advice to President Duterte yesterday as she slammed him for insisting that her home city of Naga is a hotbed of drugs, with one of her relatives involved in the illegal trade.

“The allegations made by the President are recycled rants conveniently used to deflect attention from the failures of this administration,” Robredo said.

She made the remarks after Duterte on Thursday night stood by his statement that Naga is a hotbed of shabu, and that it was her brother-in-law, who is blind, who brought drugs to the area.

Speaking at the 49th Charter Day celebration of Mandaue City in Cebu, Duterte also resumed his attacks against Robredo, again belittling her capability to succeed him as president.

Robredo had denied that illegal drugs are prevalent in Naga City,

where her husband, the late interior secretary Jesse Robredo, served as mayor for almost two decades.

Instead of targetting her and Naga City, Robredo urged Duterte to focus on many important matters that he needs to address like rising prices, which she said is making life difficult for Filipinos.

“Perhaps he can use his podium to assure the people that he is on top of these problems – and to use his power to intervene when his appointed officials struggle to come up with coherent solutions to the rising prices of rice and other basic commodities,” she said.

“Despite these many problems, the drug war clearly remains highest on the President’s agenda, so much so that he is now pinning blame on a blind man,” she said.

Robredo called on Duterte to turn his attention to the P6.8 billion shabu shipment that slipped past Customs officials instead of constantly repeating ridiculous allegations, and trashing the name of a city that thrives on good governance and supports the call to fight illegal drugs.

She said Duterte should work to unite the nation instead of continuing to glorify a dictator “who stole billions from our country, drove the nation into debt and presided over the murder and imprisonment of thousands of Filipinos.”

The President said the country would be better off with a dictator like Ferdinand Marcos as president than Robredo if illegal drugs and corruption persist.

Marcos’ son and namesake Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who has filed an electoral protest against Robredo, was among those preferred by Duterte to succeed him.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said Duterte was just expressing his personal opinion when he belittled the capability of Robredo to lead the country, dragging the latter in the drug issues in her hometown of Naga City.

“Well, maybe, that’s just the personal belief of the President (that) almost everyone can be better than the Vice President. With all due respect to the Vice President, that’s a personal assessment made by the President,” said Roque at a briefing yesterday.

Roque expressed doubt that there is an attempt by Duterte to influence the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) where there is a poll protest that questioned the integrity of the last elections, particularly the victory of Robredo.

“Not at all. Because you know, the PET is conducting what is called revisions of the ballot; so it’s the ballots that will be speaking and not the justices individually,” he said.

Former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has questioned the victory of Robredo before the PET.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan urged yesterday the Duterte administration to focus on finding the missing tons of illegal drugs, address the rice shortage and other urgent problems instead of hitting Robredo.

Pangilinan, president of the Liberal Party chaired by Robredo, said attacking her is another attempt to divert the public’s attention from the tons of missing smuggled shabu and missing NFA rice from the market.

“Instead of talking about who should replace the President, the administration should focus on addressing these pressing issues that concern our countrymen,” the opposition senator said.

He said the price of rice continues to soar amid smuggling, formalin-tainted fish importations and weevil-infested rice.

“Filipinos are losing their patience with these kinds of government blunders,” he said.