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A Malacañang official on Wednesday urged the United Nations' top human rights official to visit the Philippines to verify whether President Rodrigo Duterte condones torture and extrajudicial killings.
"It's a democracy. They can say whatever they want to say. I would advise him to go to the Philippines and see for himself," Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar told reporters in Manila.
Andanar's comment came after UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein criticized Duterte and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump for "breaking long-held taboos" in their respective support for torture and extrajudicial killings.
Zeid then concluded during his speech in London on Monday night that the "dangers to the entire system of international law are therefore very real."
Duterte has bristled at criticisms on his anti-illegal drugs policy in which thousands have been killed since he took power on June 30 last year.
Hindi talaga natin maiiwasan na meron at merong mangkukutya sa ating pangulo at kung papansinin natin sila yung mga taong kadalasan eh ayaw sa kanya and worst inggit sa ating pangulo dahil napaka galing niya.
He made several outbursts against the United States, the United Nations, the European Union, human rights groups, and other international institutions, and has said he would pursue deeper ties with countries such as Russia and China.
Last May, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano led the Philippine government panel in presenting the human rights situation in the country before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.
During his presentation, Cayetano denied there was a "sudden wave" of state-sponsored extrajudicial killings in the Philippines. He also asked the UNHRC to visit the Philippines to check on the situation.
The former senator said that “fake news and alternative facts” made it appear that Duterte was “acting with impunity."
Do you still remember na ang campo nila Vice President Leni confirmed that they been receiving complaint with regards to this issue? Na wala daw awa kung patayin ang mga nahuhuling gumagamit or nagbebenta ng droga...
After the presentation, several countries including France, Germany, and Latvia called on the Philippines to allow without conditions UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Killings Agnes Callamard to investigate the killings being blamed on the Duterte administration's war on drugs.
Other nations also expressed alarm over the alleged extrajudicial killings in the country and urged the Philippines not to reinstate death penalty for heinous crimes.
At the time of Cayetano's Geneva trip, Callamard took a controversial "academic visit" to the Philippines, during which she expressed her willingness to undertake an official visit to the Philippines, and possibly an investigation, once the government lifts the conditions that were set last year by Duterte.
Credits to GMA News
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