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MANILA – United Nations special rapporteur Agnes Callamard may still visit Manila and investigate the alleged extrajudicial killings in the Philippines.
Foreign Affairs spokesman and assistant secretary Charles Jose clarified the invitation was not cancelled.
But “it is up to Callamard to agree and comply with the conditions imposed by President [Rodrigo] Duterte,” Jose said in a text message.
“We are the one who sets the rules,” he said. “If they can comply or agree [with] our conditions, they can start their investigation.”
Foreign Affairs secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. had said the UN could not pursue its probe because Callamard declined to accept Duterte’s guidelines.
“If they will not comply with the conditions of our President regarding their visit to the Philippines to validate their claims, the trip will not push through. They cannot come here,” Yasay was quoted as saying at the sidelines of Duterte’s state visit in Phnom Penh.
Yasay did not mention the government’s guidelines, although Duterte had said he wanted to challenge the UN rapporteur to a public debate.
In November Callamard wrote to the government to welcome the Philippines’ invitation. She intended to visit in the first quarter of 2017.
Already maligned by allegations that extrajudicial killings pervade in the country, the government must be given the chance to question the rapporteurs, Yasay said.
In inviting Callamard in October, the government said it was “entitled to know the motive for the investigation, and why the focus is on the Philippines when there are other nations responsible for the death of innocent and defenseless individuals elsewhere in the world.” (PNA)
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