MANILA – The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday released information on the initial batch of 52 cases it is reviewing as part of the government’s policy of transparency on the anti-illegal drugs campaign.The matrix included docket numbers, names of deceased suspects, places and… Read More
MANILA – The release of information on 52 cases of police anti-drug operations that resulted in killings of drug suspects shows that President Rodrigo Duterte is not remiss in his obligation of investigating human rights violations during his term, Malacañang on Wednesday… Read More
PH hits, questions validity of UN reso on EJK probe
Politically partisan and one-sided
The Philippine government, through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), hit the United Nations-adopted resolution seeking for a comprehensive written report on the human rights situation in the country, describing its validity as “questionable.”
President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday shrugged off the United Nations Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) move to adopt a resolution that would allow the body to investigate the human rights situation in the Philippines.“Bahala sila. Kung ako magtrabaho hindi ako… (It’s… Read More
The Iceland-initiated resolution was adopted with 18 votes in favor, 14 against, and 15 abstentions by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Thursday night.
“This resolution was not universally adopted. Therefore, its validity is highly questionable. It does not represent the will of the Council, much less that of the developing countries who are always the target of such resolutions,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. said in a statement.
“Western countries pushed for this resolution in the confidence that the world has forgotten what they did and what should have been done to them had there been a Human Rights Council. It was pushed with the arrogance that developing countries must not stand up to them even if we can and as we hereby do. There will be consequences,” he warned.
Locsin described as politically partisan and one-sided the Iceland resolution, reiterating Manila’s position to reject it.
“It cannot, in good conscience, abide by it. We will not accept a politically partisan and one-sided resolution, so detached from the truth on the ground. It comes straight from the mouth of the Queen in Alice in Wonderland, ‘First the judgment, then the proof’,” he said.
Among the 18 states that voted yes include Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Fiji, Iceland, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Slovakia, Spain, Ukraine, United Kingdom including Northern Ireland, and Uruguay.
Fourteen nations, on the other hand, voted no, including Angola, Bahrain, Cameroon, Hungary, China, Cuba, Egypt, Eritrea, India, Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Somalia.
Meanwhile, fifteen abstained, including Japan, South Africa, Brazil, and Pakistan.
But despite the resolution’s adoption, Locsin said the country will continue to work with the UNHRC, as the Philippines “must remain true to the cause of human rights.”
“The Philippines renews its solemn responsibility to protect the law-abiding against the lawless by any means efficient to achieve the defining purpose for the existence and expense of a state. To that responsibility, my President has made an iron, unwavering and total commitment; and it will not be weakened by this ill-fated resolution,” he said.
He also acknowledged those who voted against the said resolution.
“We renew our solidarity with our true friends who have stood by us in this farce. But we will not tolerate any form of disrespect or acts of bad faith. There will be consequences; far-reaching ones,” he said.
State’s responsibility
In defending the country’s campaign against illegal drugs, Locsin said the state’s “responsibility to protect starts with protecting the good against the bad, the innocent against the vicious”.
“We invoke the government’s great power – and therefore commensurate responsibility – to protect human rights as multilateral bodies cannot. Foremost among those rights is the right to be protected from crime by the state,” he said.
He also called out Western nations for bringing Manila “down to the level of the authors of atrocities the world must not forget”, citing the Amritsar massacre, Mau Mau Revolt, the Boer War and the trendsetting holocaust of the Congo among others.
“But we will not engage in throwing at each other the bodies of each side’s respective victims. We cannot compete with the West,” he said.
“The Philippines is affronted that we should be named with the very breath of these authors of these atrocities, the same ones so bold to condemn us – we who opened our arms to save their victims before the War, and well into the savage wars of peace culminating in the Vietnam War to whose victims we gave shelter when everyone else turned them away,” he said. (PNA)
PANELO SLAMS CLAIM OF 27,000 KILLED IN DUTERTE DRUG WAR
‘Amnesty International stubborn, incorrigible’
Malacañang described London-based human rights group Amnesty International as “stubborn” and “incorrigible” after it insisted that there were around 27,000 extrajudicial killings in the country.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo asked the organization to cite facts and figures on the names of the 27,000 deaths noting that failure to do so would mean their reports were indeed “condemnable malice”.
“Amnesty International not only is stubborn but incorrigible as well, when it insists on pursuing and advancing a baseless and false narrative on the government’s war on drugs, specifically on the nature and number of deaths arising therefrom,” Panelo said in a statement on Wednesday night.
Panelo insisted that the group relied on figures provided by critics of President Rodrigo R. Duterte since government data showed there were only 5,425 deaths that arose from anti-illegal drugs operations.
“Amnesty International cannot parrot the bogus information it gets from the anti-Duterte forces and get away with it. It can not recklessly throw accusations without them showing credible proof of their authenticity,” Panelo said.
Panelo also dismissed the remark made by Amnesty Official Philippines section director Butch Olano, urging the President’s spokesperson to “do his homework” by reading their report.
“This representation has surely done his homework, contrary to the screaming derogatory slanted headline of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, as the biased London-based human rights group suggested,” Panelo said.
Panelo pointed out that despite the lies foisted by the opposition, survey results would indicate that majority of Filipinos continue to trust the President.
On Tuesday (July 9), Olano asked Panelo to “do his homework” insisting that the 27,000 figure came from the Philippine National Police’s data and not their own. (PNA)
Malacañang on Friday described as “unfortunate” the European Parliament’s resolution calling for an end to the alleged extrajudicial killings amid the country’s intensified campaign against illegal drugs.
“We, of course, find it unfortunate that members of the European Parliament once again interfered with the affairs of the Philippine state, rehashing issues and baseless claims that have been explained adequately by the Philippine government in several official statements,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a Palace press briefing.
“We reiterate that the Philippine administration — the government under the administration of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte — does not engage in so-called extrajudicial killings,” he said.
Roque also refuted claims that 12,000 have already been killed since Duterte began his anti-illegal drugs campaign upon assumption of office in 2016.
“We challenge them — where are your data, the evidence of 12,000 who died? Impunity doesn’t have a place in our society and we continue to follow process and hold officers accountable for their actions,” he explained.
Government date showed about 4,100 people have been killed in anti-drug operations.
Legal arrest
On the European Parliament’s call for the release of Senator Leila de Lima, Roque said de Lima’s arrest on illegal drug charges has been declared legal with finality by the Supreme Court.
He reminded the European Parliament that the Philippine justice system is working and that the executive department does not interfere with the judiciary.
“The judiciary is working. The lower courts and the Supreme Court are not influenced by the politicians,” Roque said.
The European Parliament’s resolution also asked the Philippine government to remove UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous People Victoria Tauli-Corpuz from the list of terrorists.
NPA links
Roque, meanwhile, explained that military intelligence reports claim that Corpuz has links to the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army.
Tauli-Corpuz, he said, has not yet been tagged as terrorist since her case is still in court.
“Ms. Corpuz can submit controverting evidence linking her with the terrorist group. We will allow the court to decide,” he said.
Roque called on members of the European Parliament to exercise prudence in issuing resolutions.
“We understand a number of whom we have close ties with the local political opposition who tried to distort realities that we have a working democracy, where people now enjoy peace and order,” he said.
Roque said he finds the European Parliament’s resolution inconsistent with the European Union’s recent move to give financial assistance for the Philippines’ war on drugs.
“I find it inconsistent that the European parliament will condemn the war against drugs which is now also being financed partly by the European Union,” he said.
He clarified that the Philippines has no problem with the EU, noting that “perhaps it is the EU that should communicate with the European parliament.”
On the European Parliament’s call for EU to remove the Philippines from the UN Human Rights Council, Roque said it will be decided by the UN system itself.
“The members of the UN Human Rights Council are elected by the general assembly. That’s a call to be made by the general assembly,” he pointed out.
Roque said he is expecting the Department of Foreign Affairs to take the necessary steps to what he called unfair action by the European Parliament. (PNA)
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