A SENIOR Cabinet official on Tuesday stressed that controversial spate of drug-related killings are a ‘necessary evil’ to achieve peace and order and make the country more attractive to foreign investments.
Socio-economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said the country needs to improve its peace and order situation to achieve economic successes and lure investors to pour economic capital into the country.
“The number zero in the zero to 10-point agenda is peace and order and included in that is the fight against criminality and drugs and smuggling and tax evasion and other illegal activities and if we have peace and order, which is the foundation of the 10 points, then the investment climate will definitely substantially improve and many will be rushing to the Philippines to invest,” Pernia said.
The secretary claimed that the negative reaction to extra-judicial killing of drug personalities was only “localized” and needed to be corrected.
He instructed the media to report about the crime rate that “has gone down substantially because of this fight against the drug menace” to ease fears of foreigners.
“The problem is the only ones interviewed by media are those whose husband or child has been killed. We should also interview those who approve of what’s happening and see it as something that has to happen in the pursuit of greater good. So, I put it that way,” Pernia said, when asked about the fears voiced by the international community regarding the administration’s continuing drug war.
“You know, I think foreigners have to be informed that if they come here and they behave, then they’re safe,” he added.
Pernia revealed that Communications Secretary Martin Andanar and Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella are working to reverse the present “negative image” of the country.
“It’s better that there are no killings, of course. It’s better if there are no killings. And also, we have to realize that our justice system is dysfunctional. I think that should also be made known. The justices, the Supreme Court should know that. They have to shape up before we can really, you know, follow due process.”
On Tuesday, the United States State Department said it was “deeply concerned” by the reports of extrajudicial killings in the country and urged the Duterte government to ensure that law-enforcement authorities abided by human rights norms.
The drug trafficking crackdown and some of Duterte’s strongly worded criticisms became problematic to the United States, which has been seeking to unite its allies and partners in Asia in the face of an increasingly assertive China, especially with many of them claiming part or all of the South China Sea.
US State Department spokesman Mark Toner, who described the President as “a plain-speaking politician,” criticized the drug crackdown by the country’s police force.
“We continue to make clear to the Philippine government … our concern about human rights, extrajudicial killings, but we are also committed to our bilateral relationship and strengthening that bilateral relationship,” Toner said in a regular press briefing in Washington.
The US official said there was no question of the United States turning a blind eye to rights abuses and that the relationship with Manila, while good, was “frank and candid.”
The number of suspected drug traffickers killed in Duterte’s war on drugs has been put at about 900 by Philippine officials.
On Sunday, the President accused the United Nations of failing to fulfill its mandate and gravely threatened to pull the country out of the international organization.
Palace officials, however, said the Philippines would remain a UN member and described the president’s comments as expressions of “profound disappointment and frustration.”
Malacañang said the Duterte administration is already addressing any serious concerns over its war against drugs after repeatedly drawing flak from critics.
“In spite of the fact that the President is plain speaking, the relationship with allies continues,” Abella said.
“We are addressing it from our side. As you can very well see, for example, the PNP chief Dela Rosa is already facing the Senate regarding that and I think he has also made references to the fact that whatever incidents that have serious concern are already being addressed,” he added.
The Catholic church called on the government to provide thousands of drug addicts with free rehabilitation and stop discriminating drug offenders because many of them are being summarily executed.
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-Committee on Public Affairs chairman Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles urged all Catholic priests and lay people to welcome drug addicts and stop treating them like outcasts.
Arguelles said there should be an atmosphere of “love” and “help” for drug users willing to be reformed.
“There are only two church-run, 15 government-owned, and 27 private drug rehabilitation centers in the country accredited by the Department of Health,” he said, adding that “building new rehabilitation centers would greatly help reduce the drug menace.”
Meanwhile, CBCP president and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas has commended the law enforcers on their earnestness in enforcing the law, but expressed concern over the rising deaths of suspected drug pushers.