The deportation of the European Union Socialist Party official was lawful as the international law suggests that a country has every right to bar any person who is unwelcome to enter its territory, Malacañang said on Monday.
“In international law, it is always a sovereign decision whom they wish to allow into their territory so we are not obliged to allow anyone in our territory if we do not want them in our territory,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque told reporters.
The deputy secretary-general of the Party of European Socialists (PES), Giacomo Filibeck, was invited to attend a congress of the Akbayan party-list but upon arrival at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, he was denied entry by the immigration bureau.
Filibeck is a staunch critic of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs, and according to Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, his attendance to the Akbayan Party Congress is viewed as an engagement to partisan political activities, which is unlawful on his part as an alien staying in the Philippines.
Consequently, PES president Sergei Stanishev condemned the actions of the Philippines against Filibeck, saying the latter’s deportation was unacceptable.
“Clearly, the president intends to silence criticism of his deadly policies both at home and abroad,” he said.
(DAILY NEWS ROUND UP FOR 04/16/18)