“These latest developments are clear indications that from the very start, Robredo’s sole objective in joining the ICAD was to sabotage President Duterte’s anti-illegal drugs campaign.

At last, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte fired Vice President Maria Leonor Robredo as vice chairman of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD). Her ouster had long been overdue, and it was triggered by Robredo herself. The President simply did what was expected of him under the circumstances.

Upon assuming the ICAD post, Robredo geared herself on a collision course with President Duterte.

First, Robredo announced a “zero-killing policy” that was completely antagonistic to the zealous anti-illegal drugs program the President is known for. In doing so, she virtually branded the President’s campaign as an evil undertaking.

Next, Robredo acted on her own as if she was the entire ICAD, and adamantly demanded from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency the release to her of classified intelligence information on so-called “high value targets” being cased by the said anti-narcotics agency. She refused to see that the usefulness of that classified information will be put to naught if it is leaked to those who have no practical need to know about it.

Then Robredo got in touch with the President’s critics in the United Nations and in the United States, without even observing the courtesy of letting the President know about her plans to contact those critics.

Robredo was politely advised by the President’s close allies to refrain from engaging in politics, and to concentrate instead on the anti-illegal drugs campaign. She ignored the advice and went on to continue to antagonize the President.

When her continued stay in the ICAD finally became completely untenable on account of President Duterte’s announcement that he is disappointed with her, Robredo announced that she will not resign her post in the ICAD. She had the temerity to add that if President Duterte wanted her out of the ICAD, the President should fire her.

After finally getting booted out of the ICAD by President Duterte himself, Robredo lost no time in declaring that she will continue to oppose the President and his administration.

Robredo’s unceremonious ouster was followed by public statements from her left-leaning stooges in the Liberal Party, like Sen. Ana Risa Hontiveros and Rep. Edcel Lagman. Predictably, their statements praised Robredo for her brief, uneventful three-week stint in the ICAD and denounced President Duterte for firing their master.

As usual, Sen. Francis Pangilinan of LP, whose incompetence led to the embarrassing defeat of the infamous Otso Diretso LP ticket in the May 2019 senatorial elections, had nothing good to say about President Duterte’s decision to fire the troublesome Robredo from the ICAD.

Communist Party of the Philippines leader Jose Maria Sison, who is enjoying a luxurious life in exile in the Netherlands, also announced his support for Robredo. Sison’s announcement underscored the unholy alliance between Robredo’s LP and the CPP. It also explains why Hontiveros and Lagman are devoted stooges of Robredo in the meantime, at least.

These latest developments are clear indications that from the very start, Robredo’s sole objective in joining the ICAD was to sabotage President Duterte’s anti-illegal drugs campaign in the hope of embarrassing the President and undermining public confidence in his leadership.

From smirks Robredo makes each time she talks about her stint in the ICAD, it looks like she never really wanted the President’s war on illegal drugs to succeed.

By the way she has been comporting herself in public, it is obvious that Robredo has her eye on the presidency in 2022, and that she thinks that the only way for her to get to reside in Malacañang is to discredit President Duterte at every possible opportunity.

The ICAD incident is not the first time Robredo betrayed President Duterte’s trust. In July 2016, right after the newly-elected President Duterte gave Robredo a position in his Cabinet, Robredo began a clandestine campaign to discredit the President in the international community. Her indiscretion led to her ouster from the Cabinet in December of that same year.

One lesson to be learned from Robredo’s brief stint as co-chairman of the ICAD is that she cannot be trusted. Another is that Robredo is undoubtedly the most underhanded, ambitious and conceited high-ranking government official around.