Any United Nations team planning to look into the country's human rights situation must first get the consent of the government, Malacañang said Monday.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque explained that United Nations Human Rights Council has implemented certain procedures on the country visits made by special rapporteurs, which can be done only at the invitation of the sovereign states.
The European Parliament earlier denounced the alleged deteriorating human rights condition in the Philippines and backed calls for United Nations’ investigation into the alleged widespread drug-related killings in the Philippines.
"Kinakailangan na pumayag po ang mga bansa bago makapasok ang mga special rapporteur ng United Nations ang soberenya ng mga bansa (The country must approve before the special rapporteur of the United Nations enters the sovereignty of the country)," he said.
"Hindi sila pupuwedeng mag-conduct ng investigation na walang consent ang mga independiyenteng soberenya ng mga bansa kagaya ng Pilipinas (They cannot conduct investigation without the consent of the independent sovereign countries like the Philippines)," he said.
Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman earlier welcomed the European lawmakers' call for a UN probe on the alleged killings linked to the government's war on drugs. Lagman said neither braggadocio nor self-serving claims of sovereign independence could hide the dismal human rights record of the Duterte administration.
“It is self-serving to bar an independent United Nations investigation, through the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), on the country’s worsening state of human rights on the pretext of sovereign immunity when the Philippines is a state party to many human rights conventions obligating signatories to promote and protect human rights,” Lagman said.
Roque however brushed aside Lagman's latest statement. "That is a result of ignorance of how the United Nations works," he said, insisting that no UN probe can be done without the approval of the concerned state.