VICE PRESIDENT Maria Leonor G. Robredo risks losing her position as President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s drug czar if she reveals confidential information to foreign entities, the presidential palace said yesterday.

“The president stated that disclosing classified information of the Philippine government to foreign individuals and entities will cause the removal of the vice president from her current post,” presidential spokesman Salvador S. Panelo said in a statement.

Ms. Robredo, the opposition leader whom Mr. Duterte had put in charge of his deadly war on drugs, met with United States Embassy officials last week to discuss how the US could help the country’s anti-illegal drug campaign.

Officials from the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the State Department, Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation and US Agency for International Development gave a “comprehensive briefing,” Ms. Robredo said in a statement.

Philippine police have said they have killed about 6,000 people in illegal drug raids, many of them resisting arrest. Some local nongovernmental organizations and the national Commission on Human Rights have placed the death toll at more than 27,000.

The opposition leader this month said she had agreed to head the Duterte administration’s anti-illegal drug campaign, if only to stop the killings. She accepted the post against the advice of many of her party mates, who said the appointment might be a trap.

Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra said Ms. Robredo could lose her post as drug czar anytime the president loses trust in her.

“As the appointing authority, the president may remove any appointee at his pleasure, more especially if trust and confidence, which is the principal basis of any appointment, is lost,” he said in a mobile-phone message.

Ms. Robredo has vowed to enforce the state’s anti-illegal drug campaign within the bounds of the law. She said she would treat the drug problem not only as a crime, but also as a health issue.

The vice president has repeatedly cited the need to re-assess the government strategy against illegal drugs given the rising number of drug dependents.

“Needless to say, disclosing sensitive and classified information to unauthorized persons is betrayal of trust, and is therefore a proper and reasonable basis for revocation of one’s appointment,” the justice chief said.

Mr. Panelo on Sunday said Ms. Robredo would lose her job if she insists on getting access to all documents about the drug war.

Since accepting the post, Ms. Robredo has met with the US Embassy and United Nations officials to discuss the anti-illegal drug campaign, which majority of Filipinos support even if it has drawn international criticism.

Ms. Robredo has also asked for the list of drug targets from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) but was denied access.

Mr. Panelo said the president has the power to ensure Ms. Robredo acts according to law.

“Not only is it within the president’s discretion, but it is his constitutional duty not only to enforce all the laws but to ensure that all his alter egos, including a co-chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs, are performing their respective functions within the scope and ambit of the law,” he said.

Mr. Duterte has yet to meet with her to discuss her functions, Mr. Panelo said. — Gillian M. Cortez and Vann Marlo M. Villegas

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