Malacañang said it was up to American President Joe Biden if he will condemn President Duterte over a supposed "continuing pattern of human rights violations" under his administration.
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque made the statement after 11 Democrat senators urged the Bidgen administration to condemn "at the highest levels" the supposed abuses and raised concern over the human rights situations in the Philippines.
In his press briefing on Monday, August 2, Roque said they were leaving the decision to Biden as the Philippines did not want to interfere with the situation.
"We leave that decision to President Joe Biden," he said.
"Amerikano po 'yan. In the same way na ayaw nating merong manghihimasok sa gawain ng Kongreso ng Pilipinas, hindi po namin sila panghihimasukan (They are Americans. In the same way that we do not want anybody interfering with the Philippine Congress, we will not interfere with theirs)," he added.
Roque said that US lawmakers were free to do whatever they wanted to.
"'Yan naman po ay personal na pananaw ng senador na Amerikano (That was the personal opinion of the American senators," he said.
"Bahala na po sila kung ano'ng gagawin nila (They can do whatever they want to)," he added.
The senators, led by Senator Ed Markey, who chairs the US Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific, said that maintaining a bilateral relationship with a long-time ally like the Philippines required "upholding shared values," such as the protection of human rights, including freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and "vibrant" democratic governance.
The senators claimed that President Duterte has waged a multi-year extrajudicial, violent, and inhumane drug war "that has devastated communities, and has been used as justification to target the independent press, political opponents, human rights advocates, and compromise judicial due process."
President Duterte has claimed that he was holding no grudge against the United States of America but repeatedly slammed the country for its supposed interference in local affairs.
Duterte has recently recalled his order to terminate the visiting forces agreement (VFA) between the Philippines and the US. He originally ordered the abrogation after US lawmakers ordered the ban on entry of Filipino officials involved in the imprisonment of detained Senator Leila de Lima.