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WEDNESDAY/IuLy 17, 2019
WWW.INQUIRER.NET
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ltelvin Gascon
By
@melvingascdnlNQ
Militant lawmakers on Tues-
day slammed the govern-
ment's supposed "hypocriti-
cal" foreign policy, saying its
officials tended to lean toward
positions most Tavorable to
tlleir vested interests. ,
At a press briefing, House
members belonging to the
Makabayan coalition said they
would take the government to
task for its "failed independent
. foreign policy" when President
Duterte delivers his fourth
State of the Nation Address
(Sona)onMonday.
"Instead of riding a jet ski to
plant the Philippine flag, Presi-
dent Driterte's foreign policy
now has the Chinese flag firmty
planted, and has been viciously
defending tlle occupation of
China in the West Philippine
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tional "people's Sona" on Mon-
day, which will reflect the true
state of the country after three
years of the Duterte presidency.
Accommodating to Chinese
According to Zarat€, the
country under President Duterte
has displayed two faces.of.the
supposed independent foreign
policy, which its ofEcials invoke
to "suit their convenience."
The Duterte government
has been very accommodating
of Chinese interests, despite
the threat to Philippine sov-
ereignty, Zarate said.
On the other hand, officials
invoke sovereignty when the
United Nations attempts .to
probe the extrajudicial killings
in the country.
"This is the current face of
our foreign policy. If it is con-
venient, it would raise the
sovereignty card in order td
protect the misdeeds. When it
is questioned over killings,
they would say no one should
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July n resolution of the United
Nations Human Rights Council
(UNHRC) which sought to in-
vestigate the human rights sit-
uation in the Philippines.
Administration officials re-
jected the said investigation
and threatened to pull out of
thE UNHRC.
"This government cannot
escape liability for the extraju-
dicial killings that have hap-
pened in the counry even if it
will break off from the UNHRC,"
ACT Teachers Rep. France Cas-
tro said.
IGbataan Rep. Sarah Elago
also slammed the administra-
tion's rejection of the UNHRC
investigation, saying its human
rights mechanisms were not
forrns of foreign intervention
but remedies to investigate hu-
man rights violations and to
prosecute offenders.
"The Duterte administra-
tion's aversion to human rights
mechanisms this time proves
all the more its guiltover extra-
judicial killings and human
rights violations," she saidi {
INQ :A