MANILA, Philippines — Saying it was nothing new and sounded like the old gripes of last year’s poll losers, Malacañang on Tuesday downplayed the European Union’s report stating that the human rights situation in the Philippines had “considerably worsened as a consequence” of President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs campaign.
Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said “many” of the “alleged findings” in the EU’s recently released 2016 Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World “are a rehash of criticisms aired by the political party whose candidate lost to the President.”
“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 added.
In the report, the EU noted that while “some trends and circumstances detrimental to human rights, such as extrajudicial killings and the climate of impunity were already present under previous administrations,” the last six months of last year “was marked with serious deterioration in respect for the right to life, due process and the rule of law.”
It cited the war on drug’s killing of 6,000 Filipinos and the arrest of 40,000 others from July to mid-December of 2016 based on data from Philippine National Police as reported in the media, with one-third of the deaths occurring in police operations.
Moreover, the union said Duterte’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.”
But Abella on Tuesday said “congressional hearings were convened to look into these allegations and have proved that the State does not sanction wanton and unjustified killings.”
“Impunity does not have a place in this administration,” he added.
