Duterte’s conditions for Callamard visit remain – Palace

Malacañang clarified that the previous conditions set for United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extra-Judicial Executions Agnes Callamard’s Philippines visit had not changed after President Rodrigo Duterte invited her anew.

“The President is very clear about the conditionalities and that… If she meets up, then it will have to be according to those conditionalities,” Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a briefing on Monday.

“As far as we can tell, he has not said that conditions are waived,” he added.

Duterte in December set conditions for Callamard's visit, among which was a requirement for a public debate between the two of them, the president should be able to ask his own questions, and the Special Rapporteur should be questioned under oath.

Callamard had countered that the conditions violated the United Nations' Code of Conduct and Terms of Reference for country visits.

Abella also defended Duterte for a expletive-laced harangue against Callamard for tweeting that 17-year-old Kian Loyd delos Santos' death needed to be the last.

“Expletives. First and foremost, I don’t think there were—you know, he did not phrase himself along that line,” Abella explained.

“What truly matters is that his intention is to make—is to get to the root of the issue,” he added. — DVM, GMA News