(Eagle News)–Only President Rodrigo Duterte should lead the war on drugs, Senator Panfilo Lacson said on Tuesday, Oct. 29.
According to Lacson, a former Philippine National Police chief, only the President, after all, ” can wield sufficient authority and power over our law enforcement officials.”
“Unless he delegates a blanket authority, including the power to hire and fire, no one else in the government bureaucracy can do it better than the Chief Executive under any other given circumstances,” Lacson said, as he noted that “the President is easily peeved when his administration’s top priorities – such as eliminating illegal drugs and corruption, which he used as his campaign platform – become the subject of criticisms.”
Lacson issued the statement after Duterte said he was ready to give Vice President Leni Robredo six months the power to enforce laws as drug czar if she thought she could do a better job.
Duterte said he sent Robredo a letter via Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.
Duterte made the offer after Robredo said the drug war had failed as it had not curbed the number of drug users in the country.
Senator Kiko Pangilinan, Robredo’s partymate, dared Duterte to give her three years instead.
