HELP FOR FIRE VICTIMS. Senator Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go interacts with fire victims in Lapu-Lapu City as he extends them assistance on Tuesday (July 16, 2019). He vowed to support President Rodrigo Duterte in case the Chief Executive decides that the Philippines should sever its diplomatic relations with Iceland, for sponsoring a resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) seeking a probe into the alleged human rights concerns in the country. (Photo by John Rey Saavedra)
LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu – Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go on Tuesday vowed to support President Rodrigo Duterte in case the chief executive decides to sever diplomatic ties with Iceland in view of its resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), seeking a probe into the alleged human rights situation in the country.
Go, who visited this historic resort island to distribute financial and relief assistance to more than 250 families who are victims of two separate fire incidents, said he knew of the intention of Duterte in his campaign against criminality, corruption, and illegal drugs.
“Suportado nako si Presidente Duterte. Kapa’g sabihin ni Presidente Duterte na (President Duterte has my support. If he will say) we will cut ties with Iceland,” he told the media here.
Go, who ranked fifth among the 12 senators elected in last May's elections, said his closeness to the President made him understand the wisdom of his campaign to cleanse the country of maladies.
“I have been with the President for the past 21 years, at alam ko ginagawa lang ni Pangulong Duterte ang lahat para sa kapakanan ng ating bayan, ang kampanya ni Pangulong Duterte laban sa kriminalidad, korupsiyon sa gobyerno, at laban sa ilegal nga droga (I know that President Duterte is doing everything for the good of the country, in his campaign against criminality, corruption in the government, and against illegal drugs),” he said.
The senator from Davao City underscored the current justice system in the country which, he said, can be utilized to address the concern of human rights groups on the administration’s campaign against illegal drugs.
He said the justice system in the country is functioning.
“I believe in our justice system. Naniniwala po ako na kaya nating ayusin to (I believe that we can make better with this),” Go said, stressing that there is no need for other countries to intervene in the country’s own issues.
The Cebuano-speaking senator said intervention by other countries on the alleged human rights issues can be avoided if drug personalities here will stop their illegal activities.
The senator’s reaction came after Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the President personally told him that he was contemplating on cutting ties with Iceland after it sponsored a resolution asking the UNHRC to probe the country’s human rights situation, including deaths in the campaign against illegal drugs.
Panelo described the UNHRC resolution as “grotesquely one-sided, outrageously narrow, and maliciously partisan”.
He said the resolution “reeks of nauseating politics completely devoid of respect for the sovereignty of our country.”
He said it is bereft of the “gruesome realities of the drug menace in the country.”
The Iceland-sponsored resolution was based on false information and unverified facts and figures and only meant to embarrass the Philippines before the international community, Panelo said. (PNA)
