Palace shrugs off survey favoring drug deaths probe

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang was unfazed by a survey that showed a majority of Filipinos want the government to allow international bodies to look into the deaths tied to the war on drugs, insisting that such probe would be an assault on Philippine sovereignty. 

A Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey conducted from June 22 to 26 showed that 60 percent of Filipinos agree that the administration should not prohibit international groups such as the United Nations from investigating the deaths linked to the narcotics crackdown. 

Twenty-six percent of the 1,200 respondents “strongly agree” to let the groups probe the deaths while 34 percent “somewhat agree.” 

Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo maintained yesterday that international bodies could not probe the drug war because the Philippines’ justice system is working.

“You cannot do that to us, because we are a sovereign state. Our system is working... They do not need to come here, we have a robust judicial system. Everything is being investigated,” Panelo said at a press briefing.  

“It’s an assault on our sovereignty,” he added.

Officials have rejected calls to allow representatives of international bodies to come to the Philippines to investigate drug-related deaths, saying foreigners do not know the actual state of the country’s domestic affairs.

Duterte has declared that he would not face international courts, calling the move “stupid.”

Panelo blamed the critics of the drug war for the survey results.

“They believe the critics and yet Filipinos are saying that the drug war is right,” he said. 

Panelo said there is no need to persuade the public about the merits of the drug war despite the survey results. 

“The President is not interested in popularity,” he said. 

More than 5,000 drug suspects have been killed since Duterte launched the war on drugs in 2016, according to police data. 

Sen. Leila de Lima said the sedition complaint filed by the Philippine National Police (PNP) against opposition personalities over the “Bikoy” videos was meant to silence the opposition from supporting the UN probe on human rights abuses in the country.

De Lima said the cases were meant to divert the public’s attention away from the unabated spate of killings and other excesses of the government.

The PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group filed charges of inciting to sedition, cyber libel, libel and obstruction of justice against Vice President Leni Robredo, De Lima and Sen. Risa Hontiveros as well as former senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Bam Aquino.

Also charged were opposition figures Chel Diokno, Florin Hilbay, former congressman Gary Alejano, Erin Tañada, Romulo Macalintal and Samira Gutoc. –  With Cecille Suerte Felipe