No contradiction in statements of PRRD, Aussie envoy on drugs

MANILA -- “No contradiction, just a difference in perspective.”

This was how Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella described Tuesday the conflicting statements of President Rodrigo Duterte and Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, particularly on the Philippines’ war on illegal drugs.

Bishop paid a courtesy call on Duterte last Friday in his home province in Davao City but Malacañang failed to mention the President’s anti-drug war as among the issues discussed during the two official’s meeting.

On Sunday, the Chief Executive bragged that amid criticisms on his bloody crackdown on narcotics trade, Bishop "never raised" the issue on human rights and was “so courteous” during their meeting.

Duterte claimed that no one will dare talk about human rights with him because anyone who will attempt to do so will only “get an insult” from him.

“We never discussed human rights. They are so courteous. Maybe they know. Because if you say that, if you utter those things in my presence, you’ll get an insult. So what we did was to discuss transnational crimes, terrorism,” he said in a press briefing before going to Myanmar.

Bishop, however, was quick to react and debunked Duterte’s remark, saying they discussed the campaign on illegal drugs in the country when she visited him.

She added that she “conveyed Australian and international concerns with respect to extrajudicial killings and spoke of the importance we attach to human rights and the rule of law.”

Abella said Duterte did not see the need to mention it since the two had a “productive” dialogue about other things.

“There was no contradiction between Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and the Philippine President, just a difference in perspective. Since they had a productive dialogue, which emphasized possible areas of constructive cooperation on the war against illegal drugs, PRRD did not deem it sufficient to mention as having been discussed,” Abella said.

“On the whole, the meeting was positive and just affirmed the growing Philippine-Australia relations,” he added.