DFA's Cayetano says De Lima ‘a drug syndicate spokesperson’

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano has tagged detained Senator Leila de Lima as a "DDS" - a destabilizer, drug syndicate spokesperson.

“Siya naman DDS din siya. Kung kami DDS o 'Die Hard Duterte' supporter, siya din DDS... destabilizer, drugs syndicate spokesperson.” Cayetano said in an interview after his trip to Geneva.

It was an apparent reply to an earlier statement by De Lima that Cayetano is an “international spokesperson for a death squad government.”

Cayetano also pointed out that De Lima did not file a case against then Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte in relation to his alleged link to the Davao Death Squad, when she was still with the Department of Justice.

“Go back to your time na Secretary ka ng Justice, and before that, nung CHR [Chair], ni isang kaso wala kang finile kay President Duterte," argued the Foreign Secretary. "Then nakita natin, within one and a half year [ng Durterte Administration], halos equal na yung drug operation sa buong six years noong last administration.”

‘Real’ human rights situation

Cayetano said he was able to clarify the “real” human rights situation in the country during the the recently concluded 37th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

“The accomplishment of this trip is we set the record straight," he emphasized. "We told them we will embrace human rights, we will cooperate. But don’t politicize, don’t weaponize human rights. Kasi makikita mo iyong numbers lang for example na binibigay, completely false.”

Cayetano also said he is ready and willing to speak to anyone on the Philippine human rights situation, and he is confident that those who had earlier questioned the government's commitment to human rights would change their minds.

Among the officials that Cayetano had met in Geneva was Iceland's Foreign Minister, Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson, who had called on the United Nations to investigate the alleged human rights violations in the country in connection with the Duterte Administration's war on drugs.

Cayetano said he told the Icelandic minister that while the Philippines was open to a human rights investigation, those who have previously “prejudged” the country are not welcome.

“We engaged. Kahit tumira sa atin, inupuan natin. Then we invited them over, but we’re not inviting someone who's already prejudged us, who's already persecuting us,” said Cayetano.

The Philippines' top diplomat, while conceding that the human rights situation in the Philippines is not perfect, said the Duterte administration is actually protecting its citizens' rights by keeping them safe and protected. —DVM, GMA News