(Eagle News) — The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption lashed out at Vice President Leni Robredo on Monday, saying she should apologize for her “despicable act of treachery.”
The independent anticrime watchdog was referring to Robredo’s issuance of a video statement before the international community, which was released online on March 13.
In the 6-minute video published by Time.com last week, Robredo was seen dishing out criticisms of Duterte’s drug war, saying police were so abusive they beat people up if they asked for a search warrant for the conduct of an anti-drug operation.
“Since July last year, more than 7000 people have been killed in summary executions,” she had said.
At one point, she also criticized what she said was the “palit-ulo” scheme, which she said sees police arresting another member of the family of a drug suspect if he or she was not at home upon their arrival.
Philippine National Police Director General Ronald dela Rosa has, however, denied Robredo’s version of the scheme, saying under their version, policemen charge suspects for a lighter offense if they identify individuals who occupy higher positions in the drug supply chain.
“(Vice President Robredo’s act of) blatantly bringing before the international community unfounded allegations against human rights in connection with the Philippine government’s war against drugs (is) a despicable act of treachery, unFilipino, unpatriotic and a serious breach of trust against the Filipino people,” VACC President Dante Jimenez said in a statement.
He said Robredo reported “very serious allegations” to the “UN or to the international community in general without even verifying her data,” for instance her data on the number of people supposedly killed in summary executions.
He also pointed out that Robredo’s “ugly” portrayal of the palit-ulo scheme was wrong.
“As we understand it, it when a drug suspect commits to help in the arrest of a ‘bigger fish’ in syndicated illegal drugs,” Jimenez said, noting that the police had also emphasized that this was “not a procedure in Oplan Tokhang.”
According to the VACC president, “it should have been more prudent and patriotic for the VP to make clarifications or consult the PNP before putting the country to shame on the international map with her unfounded allegations.”
Tantamount to treason
“With hearsay information, she is vilifying before the world her own government…which she (has) sworn to protect as elected vice president. She is ruthlessly shaming before the global community the President she has mandated to serve… She is recklessly destroying the image of her own country with her own charges. In the process, she is pulling down Filipinos. This is a treacherous act and as an elected official, this is tantamount to treason,” he said.
“Now an impeachment complaint is being contemplated against her, and rightly so,” he added.
Jimenez said Robredo should apologize to Duterte “for ruthlessly undermining the government for the sake of politics.”