Philippines: Duterte dares VP Leni Robredo to take over law enforcement powers

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has said on Monday that he will pass on his powers over law enforcement to Vice President Leni Robredo, according to local media. The transfer will reportedly be for a period of 6 months.

"I will surrender my powers to enforce the law," Duterte said in remarks to newly-appointed government officials. "I will give it to the vice president for six months. I'll let her carry it out, let us see what will happen. I will not interfere." It was not immediately clear if Duterte's offer was meant sarcastically, although he said he would send a letter to Robredo, a former human rights lawyer.

Duterte's comments come just a few days after Robredo criticized his war against drugs. "We ask ourselves, 'why is this still happening?'. The president has already made very serious threats to drug syndicates, to drug lords ... and yet it's still very prevalent, so obviously, it's not working," Robredo said in an interview to Reuters. She also called on the government to "take care of this mess."

Robredo, who was elected separately to Duterte and has a frosty relationship with the president, said the thousands of people killed were already too many, with no evidence of a decline in drug supply or usage.