Lacson, Pangilinan oppose PHL exit from the UNHRC

Two senators on Monday said they opposed the Philippines' withdrawal from the United Nations Human Rights Council following the adoption of a resolution setting up an investigation on the country’s war on drugs.

Senator Panfilo Lacson said the move was imprudent as the Philippines may need other countries in the future.

“At the rate we are withdrawing from the different UN bodies, it may be a matter of time when we will be left to our own devices. We do not know when, but being a developing country, we may need to knock on the doors of the community of nations sooner or later,” Lacson said in a Twitter post.

Senator Francis Pangilinan said the investigation was necessary as it would shed light on the government’s illegal drugs policy.

“We can run but we cant hide. Sooner or later, we will have to explain if not to the international community, at the very least to ourselves and our citizens, why tens of thousands have been killed and yet the drug menace has become worse while drug syndicates and customs officials behind the smuggling of tons of shabu through the Bureau of Customs go unpunished,” Pangilinan argued.

Last week, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro "Teddyboy" Locsin Jr. suggested that the Philippines needed to follow the US example and exit the UNHRC.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III, meanwhile, said that Locsin would know the best action to take in the matter.

“He would be in the best position to assess what is beneficial for our country as far as diplomacy with others  is concerned,” he said. — DVM, GMA News