PHL received no opposition on drug war during 3rd UPR, says DILG exec

The more than 100 countries that attended last week's Universal Periodic Review regarding the human rights situation in the Philippines in Geneva did not oppose the Duterte administration's war on drugs but only expressed concern about the killings, Interior Assistant Secretary Epimaco Densing III said Monday.

At a news conference, Densing said the country has in fact received congratulatory messages from about 95 countries.

"[A total of] 109 countries committed in the UPR... All 95 countries who prepared their intervention all congratulated the Philippines for improving the human rights situation the past five years," Densing said.

Densing said some 15 to 20 countries expressed concern on the number of drug suspects killed in police operations, although none opposed the ongoing war on drugs.

"They were in a neutral tone. In fact the 95 countries didn't say that we should discontinue our anti-drug campaign," he said.

"They only mentioned that we should review the EJKs (extrajudicial killings) in the country. They never said that we should stop the campaign," he added. —KBK, GMA News