01 October 2017•Update: 01 October 2017
By Roy Ramos
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
The Philippines on Saturday expressed willingness to work with the United Nations (UN) in the probe of the country's alleged drug war, human rights violations.
The statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs comes a day after it said it would not allow foreign dictation as a reaction to the criticisms raised by the 39 UN member-states who expressed concerns “about the thousands of killings and climate of impunity associated with the war on drugs” in the Philippines.
In a meeting with the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Gutteres at the UN Headquarters in New York, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano conveyed Manila's readiness to work with the world body in addressing issues related to sustainable development, including “welcoming experts to conduct an objective assessment of the human rights situation in the Philippines.”
While Cayetano vows Manila’s cooperation, he also expressed appreciation to the Secretary General for allowing him to clarify the country’s war on drugs under the Duterte Administration. "We will fully cooperate and work with you on a rationale, open, fair dialogue on our campaign against crime and illegal drugs," said Cayetano.
"There are real problems but perceptions have overtaken us in western media that make it appear the situation is worse than it actually is," he added. Cayetano also reiterated that the administration’s drug war is not an instrument to violate human rights but rather an instrument to preserve and protect the human rights of all Filipinos.
However, Cayetano requested the body to send only unbiased investigators and explained Manila’s unwillingness to accept Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard who, according to the statement, had already prejudged the human rights situation in the country and even referred to President Duterte as a murderer.
"All we want is an impartial assessment and not outright condemnation to help us understand the extent of the problems that we are confronted with," Cayetano told the Secretary General. Callamard, a special papporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions who hails from France, has repeatedly criticized Duterte’s brutal war on drugs and expressed concerns over the rising cases of extrajudicial killings in the country.
Duterte challenged Callamard to a public debate last year as a condition for her to be allowed to investigate her allegations in the Philippines – a condition which was rejected by her.
