European Parliament’s meddling with PH affairs wrong: PRRD

Roque said Duterte devoted a “substantial period of time” to express his view on the European Parliament’s threat during his meeting with select Cabinet members on Monday night. (File: Presidential photo by Ace Morandante via PNA)

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte thinks the European Parliament is wrong for meddling with Philippine affairs by threatening to revoke the Philippines’ Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) status if the government does not abide by international conventions on human rights.

In a virtual Palace briefing on Tuesday, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte agrees with his own remark asking the European Parliament to “go ahead” to withdraw the country’s tariff perks.

“My statements on the EU were completely ratified by the President yesterday; he completely agrees with my statements,” Roque said.

Roque said Duterte devoted a “substantial period of time” to express his view on the European Parliament’s threat during his meeting with select Cabinet members on Monday night.

“Ang sabi niya mali nga na nanghihimasok itong European Union sa mga bagay na sakop ng soberenya ng bansa (He said it’s wrong for the European Union to interfere with issues involving the sovereignty of our country),” he said.

Last Friday, Roque said should EU push through with revoking tariff perks, they would be the ‘biggest contributor to the violation of the right to life in the Philippines.”

He sought the help of Philippine ambassadors in Europe to tell the “truth” about the human rights situation in the country.

In a resolution, the European Parliament recommended the revocation of the Philippines’ GSP+ status over the alleged “seriousness of the human rights violations” in the country.

The GSP+ is an EU program, which allows countries to export eligible products to EU states duty-free.

European Commission to decide on tariff issues

Roque said only members of the European Parliament, not the European Commission (EC) which is the executive arm of EU, called for the revocation of the tariff perks of the country

“Unang-una, hindi ang European Union or EU ang nagbanta ng trade sanctions; ilang miyembro lang po ng European Parliament ang nag–isyu ng resolution ukol dito (First, it’s not the European Union or the EU that threatened trade sanctions; only some members of the European Parliament issued a resolution on this),” he said

Roque pointed out that the European Parliament is just one of the institutions of the EU while the institution that runs the EU is the European Commission.

He also said the European Commission is the only authorized entity to decide on the tariff issues.

“Tanging ang European Commission lang po ang may kapangyarihan na mag-withdraw ng GSP preference. At sa ngayon po ay wala pa namang bansa na winidraw nila ang GSP preference (Only the European Commission has the power to withdraw the GSP preference. And at present, there is no country that withdrew the GSP preference),” he said.