Palace: Cutting ties with Iceland up to Duterte

Malacañang on Monday said it is up to President Rodrigo Duterte to decide whether to cut diplomatic ties with Iceland which initiated the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution seeking to review the country's drug war.

"In the ultimate analysis as the chief architect of the foreign policy of this country, then it’s the call of the President," presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said at a news conference.

Panelo issued the statement after Senator Imee Marcos called on the government on Saturday to sever ties with Iceland, saying the values and political agenda of other countries cannot be imposed on an independent nation like the Philippines.

The Palace spokesman opined that Iceland's action against the Philippines was an affront to the country's sovereignty, thus ending diplomatic relations must be considered.

"Kapag ang isang bansa ay nagpapahayag ng mga posisyon na makakasira sa ating kasarinlan o sovereignty ay kailangan talagang putulin natin ang relasyon natin sa kanila kung wala silang gagawin kung hindi siraan lang tayo nang siraan sa mga kalakaran na hindi naman batay sa tunay na pangyayari dito sa ating bayan," he said.

The Philippines and Iceland established formal ties in February 1999 and have been partners in the areas of maritime, mining, renewable energy, medical services, fisheries, and geothermal energy.

As for the 17 other countries that backed the UN probe, Panelo said: "Maybe we should take a serious look on our relationship with them."

Duterte on Friday mocked Iceland for spearheading the resolution, suggesting that the Nordic nation had no problem regarding peace and order and that its people "go about eating ice."

Malacañang has said Duterte could bar UN investigators from entering the country if he finds no basis for them to conduct a probe into the human rights situations in the Philippines, including the thousands of deaths linked to the anti-narcotics campaign.

Panelo said the UNHRC should believe the official figures on the drug war because "this government doesn’t lie."

"When the PNP (Philippine National Police) says that is the figure, then that is the recorded figure and everyone should believe that because PNP is not in the business of lying, it is in the business of securing’s peace and order in this country," he said.

Authorities reported that some 6,600 drug personalities have been killed in police operations around the country since Duterte assumed office in June 2016, but local and international human rights groups said the figures could be higher. —KBK, GMA News