Palace tells 39 UN member states: 'We will never accept dictation'
ALACAÑANG on Friday insisted that
Philippine government would not be swayed by the "dictation" of its foreign peers on how it is managing its domestic concerns, particularly its crackdown on illegal drugs. no culture of impunity
Presidential in the Philippines," Spokesperson Abella said in a statement. Ernesto Abella maintained that there was "The state is investigating "no culture of impunity" all credible in the Philippines allegations of human in relation to rights violations by the brutal war on illicit all its agents and will narcotics sale, continue to do so, stressing that the administration consistent with our of President constitution and laws, Rodrigo Duterte and in compliance did not condone the with the spirit of our reported abuses of national traditions of human rights. liberty and democracy,"
His statement came he added. after 39 memberstates Iceland, on behalf of the United of 38 other countries, Nations (UN) have delivered a joint expressed alarm over statement on Thursday, the alleged summary expressing serious executions of suspected concern over the drug offenders thousands of drug-related in the country. killings and alleged
"Unfortunately, it impunity associated still appears that some with Duterte's parties refuse to understand drug war. certain aspects The number of signatories of our human rose to 39 rights efforts. So let from the previous 32 us be clear. There is nations that expressed a similar concern during the 35th session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in June.
The member-states called on the Philippines to cooperate with foreign entities in conducting an appropriate inquiry into the reported drug killings under Duterte’s leadership.
"We urge the government of the Philippines to take all necessary measures to bring these killings to an end and cooperate with the international community to pursue appropriate investigations into these incidents, in keeping with universal principles of democratic accountability and the rule of law," Iceland said at the 36th session of the UNHRC.
The joint statement was signed by Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, UK, Ukraine, and United St at es.
The 39 countries were also concerned about the "climate of impunity" affiliated with the war waged by Duterte against illegal drugs.
Despite criticisms on the anti-drugs campaign, Abella reiterated that the Philippine government did not sponsor the drug killings in the country.
"The truth is: Our justice system does not tolerate any statesponsored extrajudicial killings. All these accusations of extrajudicial killings and circumventing police procedures should be proven in a competent court and if found meritorious should result in appropriate sanctions against the perpetrators. Failing these, such claims are mere hearsay," he said.
The Philippines recently claimed a "big victory" in Geneva after the UNHRC adopted its human rights report on September 22, even after it rejected more than a half of recommendations of the rights body's memberst at es.
The Duterte government welcomed only 103 of 257 recommendations and merely "took note" on the suggestions related to extrajudicial killings in its war on illegal drugs.
Malacañang on Monday said the rejection of some recommendations provided by UNHRC was in line with the Philippines’stance to exercise its own course through independent foreign policy.
Abella said the administration would continue to uphold its independent foreign policy, which it accepts the assistance of other countries.
"In conclusion, rest assured that we will be unswerving in carrying out our duty to protect our people from the scourges of drugs, corruption, and criminality so that with inclusive development and social justice, they may attain lives of dignity in a prosperous nation," Abella said.
"To achieve these ends, we will always be happy to accept the help of our foreign friends. But we will never accept dictation on how we are managing our own internal domestic processes," he added.