Duterte’s war on drugs to remain unrelenting even with UNHRC reso on probe —Palace

The Philippines' war on drugs would remain "unrelenting" despite the decision of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to conduct a probe into the deadly campaign, a top Malacañang official said Monday.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said the government rejects "in the strongest terms" the Iceland-led resolution that was adopted by the UNHRC during its 41st session in Geneva, Switzerland on July 11.

"We shall remain unrelenting in our campaign against illegal drugs, corruption, criminality, and terrorism," he said. 

"And no resolution from any international council, especially those led by states that are misinformed about the situation in our country, shall weaken our resolve to effectively protect our people’s lives, their properties and their freedoms."

Medialdea said the resolution passed by 18 nations had "short-circuited and rendered inutile the time-honored mechanisms by which the UN maintains the accountability of member-states," such as the treaty body system and the UNHRC’s Universal Periodic Review.

He said the Philippines has been abiding by these mechanisms in which human rights concerns mentioned in the resolution "should have been taken up, verified and addressed." 

"The Philippine government sees the resolution for what it is – a pernicious act, an affront to a sovereign, peace-loving nation, and an abuse of UNHRC processes," he said.

"And we believe that many, if not most of the UNHRC members, see it in the same light, as shown by the contentious vote leading up to the resolution, with the majority either abstaining or voting against it."

Medialdea said the administration's efforts in ensuring peace and security in the country, "supported by the judgment of over 80 percent of Filipinos emphatically expressing approval of the current administration," will not be disrupted by "baseless conjectures from influential political interest groups which have clearly misinformed the states supporting this resolution." 

President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday mocked Iceland for spearheading the resolution, saying that the Nordic nation had no problem as regards peace and order and that its people "go about eating ice."

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. also suggested that the Philippines needed to follow the United States' example and exit the UNHRC.

The US left the UN body in June last year, accusing it of "chronic bias" against Israel and protecting countries with questionable human rights records. —NB, GMA News