The report on the human rights situation in the Philippines by the European Union is simply a “rehash of criticisms” against the Duterte administration, Malacañang said Tuesday.
In a Palace news briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella tried to deflect EU’s criticism of the country’s human rights record, saying that they were simply the same with those thrown against Duterte by a losing political party and its candidate during the polls.
Abella likewise skirted around the salient points of the report, claiming that many of the abuses cited were just “based on media reports” and mostly committed in the previous administration—despite the EU’s remarks that the country’s human rights record “considerably worsened as a consequence” of the so-called ‘war on drugs’ waged by Duterte.
“The EU’s report covers the period of last year’s elections and many of its alleged findings are a rehash of criticisms aired by the political party whose candidate lost to the President,” Abella said.
While Duterte won the 2016 elections, many of the criticisms against his human rights records were from the camp of then second-placer former Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, a candidate of the now opposition Liberal Party. Three other candidates—former vice president Jejomar Binay, Senator Grace Poe and the late Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, sought the presidency at the time.
The second half of the year, soon after Duterte took office, was marked by a serious deterioration in respect for the right to life, due process and the rule of law, the report noted.
“The President’s statements and actions have seemingly encouraged the police to take an aggressive approach in dealing with drug users and pushers, and have – according to human rights advocates – also encouraged vigilante style extrajudicial killings,” it said.
Abella insisted that “impunity does not have a place in this administration,” as he once again flaunted that the government has already responded to such allegations during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
“Again, for the public’s continuing awareness, we reiterate that the Philippines is investigating allegations of drug-related killings, extrajudicial deaths, and media violence to ensure the accountability of perpetrators,” Abella said.
“It has to be underscored that all the drug-related deaths arising from legitimate police operations have been done based on rules of engagement,” he added.
According to data from the Philippine National Police, as reported in the media, the ‘war on drugs’ led to the killing of around 6,000 people from July to mid-December, with one third of the deaths occurring in police operations.
In addition, more than 40,000 persons were arrested in the same period.