Locsin says PHL may need to follow US in exiting UNHRC

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro "Teddyboy" Locsin, Jr. on Saturday expressed the opinion that the Philippines may need to follow the US in exiting the United Nations Human Rights Council.

"No embassy in Iceland. Nor does Iceland have an embassy here. Iceland took the place of the US after it withdrew from the Human Rights Council. I think we need to follow America more," Locsin said on Twitter in response to a netizen's questions.

No embassy in Iceland. Nor does Iceland have an embassy here. Iceland took the place of the US after it withdrew from the Human Rights Council. I think we need to follow America more. https://t.co/6brbCzores

— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) July 13, 2019

The UNHRC voted on Thursday to set up an investigation into thousands of killings in President Rodrigo Duterte's 'war on drugs'—a step that activists said was long overdue. 

The resolution, led by Iceland, was adopted at the forum in Geneva by a vote of 18 countries in favor and 14 against, including China, with 15 abstentions, including Japan.

Duterte on Friday said Iceland has no problem with crime and does not have a full grasp of the social, economic and political problems of the Philippines. 

"Ano ang problema ng Iceland? Ice lang. That’s your problem. You have too much ice and there is no clear day or night there. Parang alas kwatro ng hapon ang araw pati gabi," Duterte said in a speech at the 28th anniversary of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

"So you can understand why there is no crime, there is no policemen either and they just go about eating ice," he added.

"Hindi maintindihan nitong mga p— inang 'to na may problema tayo," the President said. "The distribution of drugs, the contamination continues today. At hindi na natin mahabol."

Senator Imee Marcos on Saturday urged the government to “cut diplomatic ties, ASAP” with Iceland. 

“A strong statement is in order that the values and political agenda of other countries, many of them developed countries like Iceland, cannot be imposed on an independent country like the Philippines,” Marcos said, noting that not even half of the UNHRC members voted in favor of the resolution.

The US withdrew from the UNHRC in June 2018, accusing it of a "chronic bias against Israel." —KG, GMA News