Malacañang on Friday slammed a United States-based non-governmental organization for calling the Philippines “a war zone in disguise” under the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
“‹In its report, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project or ACLED emphasized the “lethality” of the administration’s relentless crackdown on drugs, citing the killings of over 1,000 civilians in 2018.
ACLED said the number of civilians killed in the country last year was higher than the casualties in conflict-stricken nations such as Iraq, Somalia or the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Even after President Rodrigo Duterte received support from Sri Lanka for his war on drugs, the organization still tagged the Philippines as one of the “deadliest countries for civilians” in 2018 along with Syria, Nigeria, Yemen and Afghanistan.
“In 2018, nearly as many civilians were killed in Syria (over 7,100) as were in Nigeria, Yemen, Afghanistan and the Philippines combined (over 7,600 total)”•the next four countries topping the list of deadliest countries for civilians,” the ACLED said in its report.
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo described ACLED for its “remarkably ignorant, biased and fallacious” report, saying the US-based NGO “has not presented any proof that it has conducted a factual investigation in the country.”
“It is reasonable to believe that its conclusions are based on allegations made by groups that are hopelessly and blindly critical of the Duterte administration,” Panelo said in a statement.
He said describing the war on drugs as a state terror campaign targeting innocent civilians was pure “hogwash.”
“The report stating that there is an alleged prevalence of state repression tagging the Philippines as a country where civilians are most at risk in 2018 is an infinitely fallacious finding,” Panelo said.
“The anti-illegal drug campaign is governed by strict police protocols that subject the police officers to accountability given the President’s zero tolerance for errant law enforcers.”
Panelo said the government does not tolerate impunity, citing the conviction of the Caloocan City policemen involved in the killing of Kian delos Santos.
He said the Philippine press remained one of the freest in the world, but other groups and media outfits were “blindly critical of the Duterte presidency.”
“These include the Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, as well as partisan media outfits like Rappler, Philippine Daily Inquirer, New York Times, and Reuters, among others,” Panelo said. He said ACLED leaned heavily on the allegations of the groups he mentioned.
“Political and media detractors continue to hound the President with their reckless and baseless accusations as well as intrigues, yet they are not hailed to court.”
Panelo said the case filed against Rappler was connected with tax evasion, a serious criminal offense in the country, and not related to the content of its reports.
He also said the case against Senator Leila de Lima was “criminal in nature,” adding that the vocal senator “remains incarcerated because the evidence in the drug-related charges filed against her is strong.”