Palace to European Parliament: Gov’t addressing rights issues

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles (FILE PHOTO)

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Monday said it had already acted on the issues that the European Parliament raised in its latest resolution urging the Philippines to address its human rights issues and warning of the withdrawal of its trade privileges with the European Union (EU).

Acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles also said the issues that the EU’s legislative body raised were being used by the administration’s critics to influence the decision of voters in the coming May elections.

“We wish to reiterate that the government has already taken steps to address the concerns raised by the European Union Parliament—issues that we believe are being used by the detractors of the Duterte administration to color the perceptions of Filipino voters who in May will choose the country’s next leaders,” Nograles said in a statement.

Nograles said the Philippines has a dialogue mechanism with the EU and has expressed its willingness to work with the group to shed light on the concerns about the country.

“The actions taken by the government in this regard are a clear demonstration of our compliance with conventions on human rights, labor and good governance, among others,” he said.

He also shared the statement of Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, who described as “fake news” the statements about human rights and press freedom in the country.

“It is unfortunate that the politicians of a huge economic block is the one destroying the image of small democratic country of peace-loving Filipinos, and it is like bullying a small country. They should ask the Filipinos in their companies or communities. They should also ask the EU citizens, the EU business chambers in the country,” Lopez said.

Lopez said the Philippine government would provide facts and figures to the EU Commission and would continue to facilitate the monitoring mission for the Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus, an incentive scheme that allows the duty-free exportation of Philippine goods to the 27 EU member states.

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