FOREIGN Affairs is still awaiting Malacañang’s letter inviting experts from the United Nations and the European Union to probe the alleged summary killings in the country that is said to have resulted in the death of more than 2,000 people since President Rodrigo Duterte assumed the Presidency.
Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said there was no formal memo yet from Malacañang for UN and the European Union to probe the summary killings of alleged drug pushers and users.
“There is no memo yet, but I understand that President Rodrigo Duterte has already appointed [Executive Secretary Salvador] Medialdea to come up with an official letter [inviting the UN and EU to probe the alleged summary killings],” Jose told the reporters.
“We are waiting for further instructions from Malacañang,” Jose said.
He said once they received the letter, that would be the time they could discuss the parameters of the probe.
He said the UN had a standard protocol on how to conduct the probe and what the Philippines, a signatory to the convention on human rights, would follow.
But he said the government would be the one to set the guidelines in case the UN and the EU agreed to conduct their investigations on the alleged summary killings.
“The guidelines should be agreed by both our government and the international organizations on how they will conduct the investigation,” Jose said.
He said the investigators would also have to ask the government’s permission before they could interview the families of the alleged victims of summary killings.