Manila: The presidential palace opposes a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution mandating a review of the government’s anti-drugs campaign saying the body is being misled into acting on “unverified facts and figures.”
In condemning the July 11 United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution sponsored by Iceland which called for a comprehensive evaluation of President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the Philippine government “questions the propriety” of the move, “as well as its validity.”
“The subject resolution not only was not unanimously adopted, but it didn’t even get a simple majority of the 47 countries,” Panelo said.
The resolution, approved during its 41st regular session in Geneva, Switzerland calls on the Philippines to cooperate with UN human rights investigation.
Claims by international groups said some 20,000 killings had taken place during the administration of Duterte since July 2016. The police had earlier admitted that some 6,000 killings had occurred during the period, but reasoned that these were the result of “legitimate operations” and had taken place as suspects resisted arrest.
“The resolution reeks of nauseating politics completely devoid of respect for the sovereignty of our country, even as it is bereft of the gruesome realities of the drug menace in the country,” Panelo said.
He said that what matters most is that Filipinos remain supportive of the President. A recent independent survey by the Social Weather Stations that say the Duterte remains popular among the people.
Senator Panfilo Lacson, an independent, said the Philippines can manage its affairs on its own without the intervention of the UNHRC.
“We have a functioning criminal justice system that deals adequately with erring law enforcers,” said Lacson.
