MALACAÑANG on Friday, April 20, lashed out at the European Parliament for meddling in the Philippines's domestic issues, specifically with its anti-narcotics crackdown and terror tag to communist insurgents and their alleged affiliates.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said the Palace found it "unfortunate" that European lawmakers seemed to be desperate in "rehashing" issues that have already been addressed persistently by the Philippine government.
He also claimed that some European lawmakers may have "close ties" with local rivals of the Duterte government who want to "distort realities" that the Philippines has a "working democracy."
"We, of course, find it unfortunate that members of the European Parliament once again interfered with the affairs of the Philippine state, rehashing issues and bases claims that have been explained adequately by the Philippine government in several official statements," he told Palace reporters.
"We understand a number of whom have close ties with a local political opposition [groups] who try to distort realities that we have working democracy where people now enjoy peace and order," Roque added.
His statement was in response to the European Parliament's move to adopt Thursday, April 19, a resolution that calls for an end to the brutal war on illegal drugs that has claimed the lives of thousands of people, as well as for the removal of human rights defenders from the Philippines' list of terrorists.
In the resolution, the European lawmakers urged the Philippines to put an "immediate end" to the so-called extrajudicial killings attributed to its deadly war on narcotics trade.
They also reiterated their appeal to the Duterte administration to release detained Senator Leila de Lima, who is facing drug-related charges, guarantee her a "fair trial," and drop "all politically motivated charges against her."
The European Parliament also asked the Philippine government to delist United Nations Special rapporteur on indigenous peoples Victoria Tauli-Corpuz in its petition seeking to declare over 600 individuals as terrorists.
Roque responded to the parliament's appeals, denying the presence of such state-sanctioned killings of suspected drug personalities in the Philippines.
"We reiterate that the government under the administration of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte does not engage in so-called extrajudicial killings... We do not incite killings. Our institutions are working to implement our laws against killings," he said.
The Palace official also stressed that it appeared to be "inconsistent" that the European parliament condemned the drug war that is "now also being financed partly by the European Union (EU)."
Roque was referring to the EU's granting of 3.8 million in aid for the Philippines' drug rehabilitation program in March.
As for De Lima's case, Roque insisted that the government follows "strict" and "legal" procedures that had even been supported by the Supreme Court when it junked the senator's plea to nullify the drug-relatd charges lodged against her.
"The arrest and detention of Senator Leila de Lima on illegal drug charges, which follows strict, legal procedures, has even been declared legal with finality by the Supreme Court of the Philippines," he said.
Roque also maintained that on the Corpuz's case, she was included in the government's terror list because of "intelligence information" linking her with the communist rebels.
He reiterated that Corpuz has the right to submit "controverting" evidence that would debunk the allegations hurled against her.
"We thus call on the members of the European Parliament to exercise prudence in issuing resolutions," Roque said. (VoxPop Philippines)
