Palace hits ‘infirmed’ US intelligence gathering on PH human rights report

MANILA, Philippines — The United States’ Department of State report stating it has received credible information on significant human rights abuses by the Philippine government shows the weakness of its intelligence gathering, Malacañang said Saturday.

In a statement, acting presidential spokesperson Martin Andanar said the US “once again displayed how infirmed its intelligence gathering is” with its claim of credible reports of human rights violations by the Philippine government in its State Department’s 2021 Country Report on Human Rights Practices.

Andanar said Malacañang considers the reports mentioned by the US State Department as “utterly devoid of bases.” He said these reports are “nothing but a rehash of old and recycled issues by the perennial detractors” of the Duterte administration.

“To reiterate, these allegations, including violations committed by law enforcement officers in the conduct of the government’s anti-illegal drugs campaign, have all been previously addressed,” he said.

The US Department of State earlier said it received credible reports that members of the Philippine security forces committed “numerous abuses.”

READ: ‘Significant’ human rights abuses were committed by and for PH gov’t, says US State Dep’t

The US said that these significant rights issues included “unlawful or arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings, by and on behalf of the government and nonstate actors; reports of forced disappearance by and on behalf of the government and nonstate actors; torture by and on behalf of the government and nonstate actors; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; (and) arbitrary detention by and on behalf of the government and nonstate actors.”

Andanar, however, urged the US Department of State to validate these reports.

“We strongly suggest that the United States State Department to validate reports that reach their office, triangulate the same with all other open and institutional sources, and put to work its political officers in the US embassy in the Philippines who can then properly verify the same with the Philippine government,” he said.

“Engaged verification is key in all this,” Andanar stated.

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