US “cautiously optimistic” despite improved human rights in Philippines

January 31, 2018

The United States has seen an improvement in the country's human rights record in President Rodrigo Duterte's anti-drug campaign but it is "cautiously optimistic" as there have been fewer extrajudicial killings related to the war on drugs, a official said on Tuesday. James Walsh, deputy assistant secretary of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement,  said in a telephone briefing Tuesday evening: " Many folks have been tracking the EJKs ( extrajudicial killings) in the Philippines and the trends are going down, so there is some encouragement that we are seeing some of our human rights training working.” “I would describe the United States as being cautiously optimistic in the trends when it comes to the appropriate way for a drug campaign,” Walsh added.The Philippine National Police (PNP)  on Monday relaunched Oplan Tokhang, a program aimed at convincing suspected drug offenders to surrender. PNP Director General Ronald dela Rosa admitted corrupt officers have used Tokhang to extort money from drug suspects in exchange for being removed from the drug watchlistA total of 3,987 drug suspects have been killed as of Jan. 17 after they allegedly fought back against police officers in anti-drug operations. Walsh said the US had reduced its support to the PNP following concerns on allegations of  human rights abuses in the anti-drug campaign. He told Dela Rosa about these apprehensions in  a meeting last year. “We were reminding them that the US has certain human rights aspects in our laws that would restrict our assistance when supporting police. And since then we have reduced our support to the police because of some of the human rights concerns,” he said. Walsh said they will continue monitoring the situation in the country and support the government in terms of demand remand programs, maritime assistance and rule of law. Dela Rosa, in an ambush interview with reporters, thanked Walsh for his statement but stressed that the PNP has to do its duty even if it risks losing funds. "We are not boosting our image with the Americans, Europeans. We want to bring justice to the ordinary Filipino, not for anybody else. So what if they cut ( funding) if we know what we are doing is the right thing?" said Dela Rosa. "If we see what we are doing is wrong, we will correct this for the benefit of the Filipino," he added. DMS