Amnesty International ‘stubborn, incorrigible’: Palace

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo asked the organization to cite facts and figures on the names of the 27,000 deaths noting that failure to do so would mean their reports were indeed “condemnable malice”. (File Photo: Office of the Presidential Spokesperson/Facebook)

MANILA — Malacañang described London-based human rights group Amnesty International as “stubborn” and “incorrigible” after it insisted that there were around 27,000 extrajudicial killings in the country.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo asked the organization to cite facts and figures on the names of the 27,000 deaths noting that failure to do so would mean their reports were indeed “condemnable malice”.

“Amnesty International not only is stubborn but incorrigible as well, when it insists on pursuing and advancing a baseless and false narrative on the government’s war on drugs, specifically on the nature and number of deaths arising therefrom,” Panelo said in a statement on Wednesday night.

Panelo insisted that the group relied on figures provided by critics of President Rodrigo R. Duterte since government data showed there were only 5,425 deaths that arose from anti-illegal drugs operations.

“Amnesty International cannot parrot the bogus information it gets from the anti-Duterte forces and get away with it. It can not recklessly throw accusations without them showing credible proof of their authenticity,” Panelo said.

Panelo also dismissed the remark made by Amnesty Official Philippines section director Butch Olano, urging the President’s spokesperson to “do his homework” by reading their report.

“This representation has surely done his homework, contrary to the screaming derogatory slanted headline of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, as the biased London-based human rights group suggested,” Panelo said.

Panelo pointed out that despite the lies foisted by the opposition, survey results would indicate that majority of Filipinos continue to trust the President.

On Tuesday (July 9), Olano asked Panelo to “do his homework” insisting that the 27,000 figure came from the Philippine National Police’s data and not their own.