(Eagle News) – President Rodrigo Duterte explained that he decided not to appoint Vice-President Leni Robredo as a cabinet member because he believed doing so would “jeopardize” the country’s state secrets.
Speaking late Tuesday night, Nov. 19, Duterte said that he is not allowing state secrets to be known by Robredo, and that she could have access only on a “need to know basis” to certain confidential information on the anti-illegal drug war.
The President said he is not firing Robredo as the anti-illegal drug czar, but clarified that he is just not giving her a cabinet position.
Duterte said this is because very confidential information, including state secrets, are discussed during cabinet meetings, and recent actions done by Robredo made him decide it is not wise to give her a cabinet post where she can participate in such meetings.
He said that there is a limit as to the state secrets she is allowed to know.
“Need to know lang siya,” Duterte said in a press briefing in Malacanang late Tuesday night.
The President said that it is obvious that Robredo is really working, but that he is just setting the “parameters” of her job as Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) co-chair.
“She’s working. I am just stating the parameters,” he said.
President Duterte said that Robredo can continue to “give the direction and the guidance, and instruct the law enforcement agency to be more transparent to her liking.”
“Make it more transparent for the people,” he said.
But he said that he “decided not to appoint her as a cabinet member because I think I will jeopardize the whole operation.”
The deciding factor, according to President Duterte, was the way Robredo immediately talked to the representatives of the United Nations and the European Union immediately after she was appointed as ICAD co-chair.
-Duterte: Robredo “grandstanding,” “scatterbrained” in her actions-
“Nung sige siya sa salita, sabi ko, ‘I will just forego appointing her to a cabinet position’,” Duterte said.
“The way she behaved right after I appointed her, is not inspiring. Natakot tuloy ako,” he said.
“Ang problema kay Robredo is this — she began talking to the United Nations, European (Union), kung ganoon sabi ko, I cannot appoint her as a cabinet member If that is the way her mouth behaves,” Duterte said.
“I cannot trust her not only because she is with the opposition. I do not trust her because I do not know her,” he said.
President Duterte said that Robredo was already “grandstanding” in her actions.
“Scatterbrain e. I will talk to this, I will talk to that,” he added, describing Robredo’s behavior after accepting the appointment as ICAD co-chair.