The Duterte government has lifted the suspension of all loans and grants from 18 countries that supported a resolution in the UN Human Rights Council that called for scrutiny of the Philippines’s human rights situation.
After an initial denial, Malacañang is now confirming President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to reject loans and grants from 18 countries that supported Iceland’s UN resolution to probe the violent war on drugs in the Philippines.
Rather than behave like a pariah state, the Philippines must take responsibility and act as an honorable member of the community of nations, writes our editor-at-large, Manuel Mogato
Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. got immediate support from Senate President Vicente Sotto III, who tweeted: ‘If he says we stay, we stay!’
‘Evidently, the resolution was designed to embarrass the Philippines before the international community and the global audience,’ Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said.
