Gov’t to provide docs to dispute rights concerns of 5 US senators

The government is willing to provide documents to address the human rights concerns of five United States senators if they send a formal request letter, Malacañang said Monday.

Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said the senators could look into the country's situation "silently" and even ask the Philippine government’s side about their concerns.

Five US senators earlier filed a resolution denouncing

the alleged human rights violations in the Philippines, particularly asking the Philippine government to release Senator Leila de Lima and drop the charges against Rappler and its chief Maria Ressa.

The Palace told the US senators to mind their own business and criticized them for interfering with the country's sovereignty.

"Their attitude should be if they want to know what is happening in this country is to send someone to have an independent probe, or write us formally so that the government can respond properly to whatever issues or questions they want to be answered," Panelo said during a Palace press briefing.

Panelo said if he were a US senator, he would probably conduct "some

probing myself" to find out the real situation in the country.

"I’m sure they have friends in the Philippines, friends in the media who are objective, not biased. People like you who are very objective, sometimes," he said. "In other words, there are many ways of finding out the truth or the falsity of whatever narrative they receive in the US," he added.

Asked if the senators are welcome to visit the country and look into these cases, Panelo said: "They can do it silently, by just communicating, by just writing us on a particular issue and we will respond, we can send them documents."