President Rodrigo Duterte has lifted the suspension of loan agreements with 18 countries which backed a resolution seeking a probe into the country’s human rights situation, a document released by Malacañang on Wednesday showed.
A Feb. 27 memorandum signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea in behalf of the President informed all agencies about the lifting of the suspension of loan and grant deals with the states that voted in favor of the resolution by the United Nations Human Rights Council.
In August 2019, the Philippines suspended negotiations and signing of loans with Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Fiji, Iceland, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Slovakia, Spain, Ukraine, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and Uruguay.
The resolution drew the ire of President Duterte, who publicly mocked those countries and mulled cutting diplomatic ties with it.
“Please be informed that such directive is hereby lifted, effective immediately,” said the memorandum.
“It is understood, however, that all necessary approvals, authorities and clearances, as required by relevant laws, rules, and regulations should first be obtained prior to actual negotiations and conclusions of any agreement,” Medialdea added.
The Iceland-proposed resolution asked the UN rights body, among others, to prepare a comprehensive report on the killings in the Philippines amid the government’s anti-narcotics crackdown.
Malacañang had strongly condemned the UNHRC resolution for being “grotesquely one-sided, outrageously narrow, and maliciously partisan.”
Some signatories are members of the European Union, one of the Philippines’ largest sources of official development assistance.
Out of the UNHRC’s 47 member-countries, 14 states have opposed the resolution including China and Saudi Arabia, while 15 countries abstained such as Japan, South Africa, Brazil, and Pakistan.
Duterte launched his anti-drug campaign in 2016, and since then police say they have killed over 5,500 drug suspects.
However, human rights groups say the true toll is four times that number.
Meanwhile, an unscheduled inspection at the Correctional Institution for Women on
Wednesday discovered cash in possession of two inmates, one of them convicted Chinese-Filipino drug queen Yu Yuk Lai, according to Chino Gaston’s report on Balitanghali, beamed nationwide.
Personnel from the Bureau of Corrections confiscated P91,000 from Yu Yuk Lai and P150,000 from another Chinese inmate.
Under BuCor rules, inmates are only allowed to have P2,000 cash on hand inside the cell, except in cases where they need huge amounts of money to cover legal expenses.
Yu Yuk Lai denied that the money was obtained through illegal transactions and said the cash was intended for her fellow inmates who needed financial assistance.
At the same time, Philippine National Police chief Gen. Archie Gamboa on Tuesday said the result of the adjudication process on the police officers allegedly involved in illegal drugs will be submitted first to Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on March 9.
“We will submit that after a month so that’s March 7. [It’s actually done but the problem is] they have to prepare. It’s a very tedious process that they have to prepare resolutions for each and every single person. We are asking that it will be submitted probably March 9 and what I am planning to do is I have to present it to the [Interior Secretary Año] first before I will present it to the President Rodrigo Duterte,” Gamboa told reporters during a press conference at Camp Crame.
Gamboa has been mum on the names of those included on the watch list despite repeated questions from the media.
Out of the 357 policemen accused of having links to the illegal drugs trade, 15 availed of optional retirement and 43 others went AWOL (absent without leave), and 54 will no longer be adjudicated.
