MANILA, Philippines – The United States is “deeply concerned” by reports of more deaths in the crackdown on illegal drugs in the Philippines, with US State Department spokesman Mark Toner urging the Duterte administration to ensure law enforcers observe human rights norms.
The US voiced its concern after Philippine National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa told a Senate panel on Monday that 712 drug traffickers and users had been killed in police operations since July 1. Malacañang said it respects the US’s expressing such concern.
Police were also investigating 1,067 other drug-related killings, Dela Rosa said, without giving details.
On Sunday, Duterte railed against the United Nations for criticizing the wave of deaths.
The government’s ruthless war on illegal drugs and some strongly worded criticisms Duterte has made of the US since coming to power present a dilemma for Washington, which has been seeking to forge unity among allies and partners in Asia in the face of an increasingly assertive China, especially in the strategic South China Sea.
Toner made the dilemma clear in responses to questions at a regular State Department briefing in Washington, in which he referred to Duterte as “a plain-speaking politician.”
“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,” he said.
Toner said there was no question of the US turning a blind eye to rights abuses and that the relationship with the Philippines, while good, was “frank and candid.”
He said the US has a long and enduring security relationship with the Philippines and it is always seeking to improve that relationship.
“With regard to us looking or turning a blind eye to human rights abuses or possible human rights abuses in the Philippines, I can assure you that that’s not the case. We take any credible allegations of human rights violations very seriously and would raise them with the Filipino government,” he said.
“I’m just going to say that we continue to work with the Filipino government on a broad range of bilateral and regional issues, and while at the same time making clear that as the Philippines addresses issues that touch on human rights that we’re going to make our concerns clear.”
US Secretary of State John Kerry, Toner said, conveyed a clear message to Duterte during their meeting in Manila that effective law enforcement has to be tied to human rights concerns and respect for human rights.
At Malacañang, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said they acknowledged the US concern but stressed that the Philippines, as a sovereign nation, should be allowed to conduct its own internal affairs.
“Mr. Toner said it diplomatically. We are all concerned with our allies’ day to day governance,” Andanar said.
Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said Toner’s statement only shows the US continues to recognize the importance of its bilateral relations with the Philippines.
“I think that’s a very significant development, right? That in spite of the fact that the President is plain speaking, the relationship continues,” Abella said in a press briefing.
He stressed the Philippine government is looking into complaints of summary execution, adding Dela Rosa has been transparent about police anti-drug operations and the conduct of probes on possible police abuses.
“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,” Abella pointed out.
“I think he has also made references to the fact that whatever incidents that have serious concern are already being addressed,” he said. – Pia Lee-Brago, Christina Mendez