Malacañang said Wednesday Vice President Leni Robredo’s refusal to accept President Rodrigo Duterte’s offer for her to be drug czar meant “she is afraid of failure.”
“It means that she may not be able to tackle the job. It means that she might be afraid that if she fails, then she will realize that her criticisms are wrong,” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo told Palace reporters.
Robredo said earlier that President Duterte would not have to delegate the campaign to somebody if it was successful.
“If there’s no failure, why delegate it to me? Because you will only delegate the tasks you cannot do,” she said.
“If successful, you don’t need to give it because you have already done it. But you are delegating it to others, isn’t it an admission that there are a lot of things to do?” Robredo added.
But accepting the offer to be President Duterte’s drug czar would prove she is not just good at criticizing, Panelo said.
“VP Leni, this is a rare and very good opportunity for you to show everyone that you are not just good at criticizing,” Panelo said.
Panelo also showed Palace reporters a text message he sent to Robredo to prove that he had informed the Vice President of the offer by Duterte.
The Palace official said the text message was an advance notice for her to think.
Robredo on Tuesday denied receiving any text message from Panelo.
“If [the offer] was serious, why text?” Robredo said.
On Monday, Duterte dared Robredo to be at the helm of his administration’s campaign against illegal drugs, apparently irked by her remarks that the government should reassess anti-narcotics campaign.
Duterte floated the offer following a report by international news outfit Reuters quoting Robredo as saying that the government should abandon the anti-drug campaign since it is “not working.”
All drug-related agencies are likely to be under her supervision if she will accept the offer, Panelo said.