MANILA -- Malacañang on Monday said the alleged extrajudicial killings linked to the Duterte administration’s war on drugs is never an issue to foreign investors in the Philippines.
“I think whoever said that should conduct more research of that,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a Palace briefing after Law Association for Asia and the Pacific (LAWASIA) President Christopher Leong reportedly claimed that foreign investors may be reluctant to invest in the country due to alleged extrajudicial killings.
Leong expressed his concern during a law business forum with a theme "Keeping Abreast with Asian Business Law Developments” on March 15.
Panelo said the economic managers, particularly Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia and Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez, “are one in saying that never the issue of human rights or extra judicial killings have been raised during meetings with investors and other conferences relative to the business investments to this country”.
Citing the Finance Secretary, Panelo said foreign investments in the Philippines have even increased to USD10 billion in 2017 and USD9.1 billion in the first 11 months of 2018.
“If you compare that to the previous administration, ang laki ng ating nakuhang (we acquired a large) investment from the foreign side,” Panelo said.
Panelo explained that the principal considerations for foreign investors include the ease of doing business.
“What are the principal considerations in investing in this country? One would be the issue of bureaucracy - if there is so much red tape, they will be discouraged in coming here,” Panelo said.
“That is precisely why we have the law on stopping such—what do you call that, yeah, ease on doing business in this country,” he added.
Moreover, Panelo said investors also valued the country’s peace and order situation, especially since among the promises of the administration of President Rodrigo R. Duterte is to fight criminality and corruption.
“They know that criminality has gone down considerably and there is war against illegal drugs,” Panelo said.
Panelo also denied Leong’s concern on the rise on the number of deaths of lawyers, prosecutors, and judges in the country, describing it as an “exaggeration”.
“That’s an exaggeration. One death of a lawyer every month, palagay ko nangangarap siya ng gising (he is daydreaming). I don’t think so,” Panelo said.
Even if it were true, Panelo emphasized that the killings of lawyers cannot be attributed to the government but the result of the problems affecting the particular individuals subject of the killing.
“It could be personal motivations, it could be revenge, it could be a botched business deals or could be a client… disgruntled. There are many reasons for killing a particular individual,” Panelo said.
LAWASIA is a regional group of lawyers, judges, jurists and legal organizations.
Panelo earlier denied allegations that the extrajudicial killings were state-sponsored, saying they are direct consequences of members of the drug syndicates killing each other either for their own protection.
He defended the anti-illegal drug campaign stressing that it is anchored on “national survival” and “accountability of those who bring the nation to the precipice of destruction”. (PNA)
