DILG hits US State Department over report on PH

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has joined other Philippine government bodies in denouncing the US Department of State’s 2021 Country Report on Human Rights Practices, claiming the reports of abuses by security forces were “sweeping, rhetorical, and unfounded.”

“There were credible reports that members of the security forces committed numerous abuses,” its 54-page extensive entry on the Philippines read, mostly touching on extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances it alleged were committed by state agents, notably the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

In a statement late on Monday, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said the latest report was a “mere repetition of unsubstantiated accusations against Philippine security forces that were loosely picked up from the traditional and social media … [and] paints a grim picture of the country’s peace and order situation that is so far removed from the realities on the ground.”

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