Philippine Vice President leni Robredo vowed on Monday to spearhead national opposition to extra-judicial killings and other flashpoint issues surrounding President Rodrigo Duterte’s controversial anti-crime crackdown.
The announcement, which came a day after she vowed to quit Duterte’s cabinet, makes her the highest-ranking official to publicly voice such firm dissent to the president’s hardline law-and-order platform.
“This is not the time for fear. It is a time for conviction. It is a time for courage,” Robredo, a lawyer, told reporters.
Robredo, 51, quit Duterte’s cabinet after a top presidential aide told her over the weekend she had been banned from its meetings. The president and vice president are elected separately in the Philippines, and the current pair belong to rival parties.
Robredo accepted a post as a housing czar after Duterte took office on June 30, following a local tradition in which the vice president is given a cabinet position regardless of political affiliation.