Sen. Leila de Lima on Saturday said Malacañang's reaction to the visit of UN special rapporteur Agnes Callamard was "the attitude of a guilty conscience" that hinted that it has "something to hide."
"Here is a woman who wants to help our nation and our people by sharing her knowledge and insights with members of our community, including legal professionals and students, and this is how the Duterte Administration responds—like they have something to hide. Like 9,000 victims of summary killings perhaps?," De Lima wrote in a handwritten statement.
"This is the attitude of a guilty conscience. A truly upstanding and brave leader would have officially invited her a long time ago, without all the absurdly onerous and unnecessary conditions," she added.
De Lima also pointed out that Callamard, the UN's special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, followed protocols in coming in the country, mirroring the statement by Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) on Friday.
"She is here in the Philippines as a guest of FLAG (Free Legal Assistance Group), as an academic resource person, not in her capacity as UN Special Rapporteur on Summary Killings and, therefore, not in order to conduct a fact-finding mission into the EJK," she said.
"But, apparently, it does not matter whether a person actually did what the Duterte Administration is accusing her of—all it matters is that the President feels he has been offended and undermined, so they will take unnecessary steps to make life difficult for her anyway," De Lima added.
De Lima has been vocal against President Rodrigo Duterte and his war on drugs.
The senator is detained in the Philippine National Police's headquaters due to drug charges filed against her by the government.
Malacañang had said that the Philippine government was not informed of Callamard's visit.
Callamard, however, insisted that the government was officially informed of her visit.
On Saturday, presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said that the United Nations Human Rights Council informed the Philippine Mission in Geneva of the visit.
Abella said that the Philippine Mission had asked Callamard to reconsider pushing through with her trip, but her reply allegedly came late
Callamard was invited several months ago by the Philippine government to investigate the alleged extrajudicial killings allegedly related to the government's war on drugs.
Duterte, however, set three conditions for Callamard's visit:
- a public debate between the two of them,
- the President should be able to ask his own questions, and
- the Special Rapporteur should be questioned under oath.
She argued then that the conditions violate the United Nations' Code of Conduct and terms of reference for country visits.
Callamard said Saturday that she would still want to push through with the official visit, but insisted that the Philippines should lift the three conditions set by Duterte.
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