MANILA – Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Thursday met with visiting members of the European Union parliament who are in the country Feb. 22-24 as part of the regular engagement between the Philippines and the EU on human rights.
Ahead of the courtesy call, Remulla said the meeting was expected to be “just an exchange of ideas.”
“They’ll be asking questions, we’ll be answering them, and we will be asking them questions also, if necessary,” he said.
The DOJ chief added that the government reiterated that it will not back down from its earlier position of non-support to the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) resumption of its investigation into the previous administration’s war on drugs.
“They can ask us. It’s good if they ask as long as they don’t impose. They can’t impose on us. We’re a free country. We have our own system,” Remulla said.
Among those who paid the courtesy call were Isabel Wiseler-Lima of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats); Karsten Lucke of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats; Hannah Neumann of the Greens/European Free Alliance; Ryszard Czarnecki of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group; and Miguel Urban Crespo of the Left in the European Parliament.
The visiting legislators are all members of the European Parliament’s subcommittee on human rights.
After the courtesy visit, the delegates proceeded to participate in an exchange of views dialogue on human rights with officials from other Philippine government agencies.
Justice Undersecretary Raul T. Vasquez said he welcomed the opportunity to exchange views and assert the Philippines’ commitment to human rights. (PNA)
