Philippines' Duterte orders shunning of loans, grants from backers of UN drug war probe

By Karen Lema
MANILA, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo
Duterte has instructed all departments and state-run firms to
halt negotiations and agreements on grants and loans from
countries that have backed a U.N. investigation into his bloody
war on drugs.
With 18 countries in favour, the United Nations Human Rights
Council approved a resolution in July to compile a comprehensive
report on Duterte's three-year crackdown, during which at least
6,700 people have been killed in what police say were shootouts
with dealers who resisted arrest. A document seen by Reuters, dated Aug. 27 and signed by
Duterte's Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, said all
agencies and state companies should suspend negotiations or
agreements "pending the assessment of our relations with these
countries".
Thousands of mostly urban poor drug users have also been
killed in the Philippines in addition to the official police
tally, many in mysterious circumstances. The growing toll led to
11 U.N. experts issuing a statement of concern in June about
what they called a "staggering" number of deaths during
Duterte's signature campaign. Human rights groups accuse police of systematic cover-ups
and summary executions of anyone associated with drugs, which
police reject.
"In light of the administration's strong rejection of the
Resolution of the United Nations Human Rights Council, which was
carried through by the votes of a minority of the council
members ... all concerned officials are DIRECTED to suspend
negotiations for and signing of loans and grant agreements with
the governments of the countries that co-sponsored and/or voted
in favour," the memo said.
Medialdea did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
Duterte's office has called the resolution "grotesquely
one-sided, outrageously narrow, and maliciously partisan",
arguing that it lacked legitimacy because the 18 council members
who backed it was less than the 14 votes against and 15
abstentions combined.
Those countries on the 47-member council that voted in
favour of the resolution include Britain, Australia, Spain,
Denmark, Iceland and Ukraine.
It is not immediately clear how a halt on loans from those
countries would impact the Philippines.
Its Economic Planning Secretary, Ernesto Pernia, told
Reuters in a text message that "no infrastructure projects"
would be affected, "only some ODA grants", he said, referring to
Official Development Assistance.
Though the Philippines rejects the resolution itself,
Duterte has not addressed whether or not he would allow U.N.
representatives to conduct an investigation in the country if
such a request is made.
His foreign minister, Teodoro Locsin, last week said that
would not happen, calling the U.N. human rights experts
"bastards" who had already made up their minds. (Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Hugh Lawson)