Panelo: Phl to destroy propaganda vs drug war

MANILA, Philippines - The head of President Duterte’s legal team is optimistic that the Philippine delegation to the United Nations human rights review would “destroy” what he called the “black propaganda” against the government’s war on illegal drugs. 

“I think the delegation has sufficient facts and figures to destroy whatever black propaganda that the critics have hurled against the President,” chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo told reporters yesterday in Malacañang.

“The facts and figures speak for themselves…the report coming from newspapers are not really that accurate. After all, the newspapers are also being provided with the wrong info so newspapers would have to report with what information they receive,” he added. 

Asked if he thinks the Philippine panel would change the perceptions on Duterte’s anti-drug war, Panelo said: “Hopefully, it should. It must. Because the evidence speaks for itself.” 

Panelo said he expects the UN to receive the report of the Philippine delegation “with open arms.” 

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said the delegation is expected to highlight the “significant achievements in upholding and protecting human rights.”  

Duterte’s crackdown against illegal drugs has been getting bad press from the international media, which usually highlights the spate of killings of suspected drug offenders.

Previous reports said more than 7,000 drug suspects have been killed since Duterte assumed office last year, but officials disputed this, saying only more than 2,000 suspects have been killed in anti-drug operations.

Duterte has repeatedly denied endorsing summary executions and instead blamed the killings on the alleged internal cleansing within drug syndicates. 

Meanwhile, following his tirade on Twitter, Philippine ambassador to the UN Teodoro Locsin Jr. urged his followers on the social media site to move on from the issue surrounding the visit of UN special rapporteur for extrajudicial executions Agnes Callamard to the Philippines.   – With Janvic Mateo, Pia Lee-Brago