As Vice President Leni Robredo accepted her new role on the government’s war against drugs, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Friday assured Robredo and the public that the government’s anti-illegal drug operations will be conducted within the bounds of law.

In a statement, PDEA chief Aaron Aquino said that all operations will be transparent and the rule of law should be followed, adding that PNP officer-in-charge Lieutenant General Archie Gamboa also vowed transparency on the government’s campaign against illegal drugs.

Robredo accepted the appointment as inter-agency committee on anti-illegal drugs (ICAD) co-chairperson from President Rodrigo Duterte two days ago — an appointment which came after Robredo said that the government’s anti-drug war is not working because it has failed to reduce the number of drug dependents and traffickers.

Robredo has said that she wants the anti-drug war to be transparent, and that its success should be measured not with body count, but with the number of former drug dependents whose lives were improved due to rehabilitation.

The Vice President then said that such metrics were a contentious point during the first ICAD meeting.