Philippines deports EU politician

MANILA: A European politician who was part of a delegation that denounced killings under the campaign against illegal drugs in the Philippines was barred from entering the country on Sunday, a local socialist political party said.

Giacomo Filibeck, Deputy Secretary General of the Party of European Socialists, was barred from entering the Philippines when he arrived at the airport in the central province of Cebu, according to the Akbayan Citizens’ Action Party.

“He was held at the Cebu airport and immediately deported,” said Justine Balane of Akbayan.

Filibeck was invited to the Philippines as a guest to Akbayan’s regular meeting with international and local allies in Cebu, he said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and the Bureau of Immigration had no immediate reaction to the deportation of Filibeck, who was told he needed to present a “black list order lifting” before he can be allowed to enter the Philippines.

Filibeck was in the Philippines in October, when he joined an international human rights mission that denounced killings and violations related to President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs.

According to Balane, Filibeck arrived in Cebu with two other European guests of Akbayan, but he was singled out, detained and eventually deported.

“He was told that he is blacklisted and that he has engaged in illegal political activities,” he said.

“We think this is absurd and very alarming considering that this is happening after President Duterte withdrew from the International Criminal Court and rejected any global investigation into the drug war,” he added.