MANILA — Malacañang on Friday branded as “political litter” the findings of the International People’s Tribunal (IPT) that President Rodrigo Duterte is liable for concocted violations of human rights.
Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said the IPT is just another vulnerable organization being used by Duterte’s critics in a futile attempt to destroy his image and reputation both in the international and local communities.
Panelo said the verdict was based on a one-sided and shallow study of the true situation in the Philippines particularly Duterte’s war on illegal drugs.
“It is, therefore, to be treated as nothing but a piece of political litter,” Panelo said.
He said IPT, which he called a kangaroo court, was the same tribunal which declared former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo guilty of human rights in 2005 and Duterte’s predecessor Benigno Aquino III guilty of gross and systematic violations of human rights.
“Given these, it is difficult to dismiss the strong probability that this manipulative practice by personalities from the left is being undertaken as another leverage to succumb to their blue-sky demands,” Panelo said.
Panelo encouraged Duterte’s detractors to instead seek redress from the country’s local courts if there are indeed abuses on government’s campaign against drugs, insurgency and corruption.
He assured that the Duterte administration shall maintain its serious efforts in executing the law equally “but harshly against those who violate it regardless of social status and political color”.
He warned that “unsanctioned resort” of certain individuals to foreign or pseudo tribunals “must be denounced as a practice which undermines the sovereignty of our country and destabilizes our progress as a nation”.
Meanwhile, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque also described the tribunal as a “kangaroo court” that has no mandate to make judgment against anyone.
Roque said even left-leaning groups in the country agreed that IPT’s decision has no legal effect and it is just propaganda.
“When it comes to international law, United Nations is the one giving mandate. This (IPT) has no mandate. It’s only propaganda. It should be thrown away and rejected,” Roque said in a radio interview.
Roque assured the public that the Duterte administration will continue to uphold the rule of law. (Jelly Musico/PNA)
