PRESIDENT RODRIGO R. Duterte can delegate the power to lead the crackdown on illegal drugs to Vice President Maria Leonor G. Robredo, but this will require a written authority, a retired Supreme Court magistrate said.

Retired senior associate justice Antonio T. Carpio said the President’s authority to delegate certain powers needs to be clearly specified in writing.

“(T)here are responsibilities once you assume certain powers but what I am saying is that it’s all speculation because the vice president, we don’t know whether she will accept or not, and we don’t know the extent of the delegation of authority,” Mr. Carpio told reporters Tuesday evening.

He said the offer of Mr. Duterte is a “very broad proposal and it’s very difficult to define what kind of work the person to whom it is delegated will do.”

Mr. Duterte on Monday said he would offer Ms. Robredo the role of drug czar for six months following her criticisms on the government’s anti-drug campaign.

The vice president has declined to comment on the offer, saying she was unsure if the President is serious.

Presidential Spokesman Salvador S. Panelo has said “the ball is in (Ms. Roberdo’s) court.”

Ms. Robredo said last week that the President should “assess and tweak” the war against illegal drugs, which he promised to end in six months during his campaign in 2016.

Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III on Tuesday recommended the appointment of Ms. Robredo as Dangerous Drugs Board chair and concurrently director-general of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

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