Palace hits European parliament over latest remark on PHL drug war

Malacañang on Friday accused the European Parliament of "interfering" in the Philippines' affairs by calling for an end to the war on drugs that has allegedy claimed the lives of around 12,000 people since mid-2016.

"We find it unfortunate that members of the European parliament once again interfered with the affairs of the Philippine state, rehashing issues and baseless claims that has been explained adequately by the Philippine government in several official statements," presidential spokesman Harry Roque said at a press briefing.

Roque maintained that the Duterte administration does not engage in extrajudicial killings and challenged the EU Parliament to produce proof.

"Impunity does not have a place in our society and we continue to follow due process and hold officers accountable for their actions," he said.

"We thus call on the members of the European Parliament to exercise prudence in issuing resolutions. We understand a number of whom have close ties with the local political opposition who tried to distort realities that we have a working democracy, where people now enjoy peace and order.”

Roque also found the resolution "inconsistent" with the move of the European Union last month to commit €3.8 million or about P241.6 million to fund drug rehabilitation centers in the country.

"I'd rather that you ask them: What is the impact of this [resolution], given that the official position of the European Union is that, you know, they have even given financial support to the ongoing war against drugs," he said.

Apart from calling for an immediate end to the anti-narcotics campaign, the European Parliament also called for the release from detention of opposition Senator Leila de Lima, and the removal of United Nations Special Rapporteur Victoria Tauli-Corpuz from a government list of individuals with links to the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA).

The resolution also urged members of the United Nations Human Rights Council to consider suspending the Philippines’ membership in the body before its term ends this year, a decision Roque said must be made by the UN General Assembly.

"That's a decision to be made by the UN system itself," he said.

De Lima is accused of conspiring with high-profile inmates to sell or trade illegal drugs inside the national penitentiary during her term as justice secretary allegedly in exchange for millions of pesos supposedly for her senatorial campaign.

She has repeatedly denied the allegation.

Roque said the Supreme Court ruled with finality this week that De Lima's arrest on drug charges was legal.

As for Corpuz, Roque said "intelligence information" pointed to her involvement with the communist movement.

The court petition against Corpuz and 600 others stemmed from Duterte’s signed proclamation that the CPP and NPA were terrorist groups, which followed the collapse of peace negotiations last November, citing the rebels’ continued attacks on government  security forces and civilians as reasons.

He also announced that he would go after the “legal fronts” – the left-wing groups that allegedly support the NPA. —KBK/RSJ, GMA News