Palace dismisses US lawmakers’ call for Trump to confront Duterte over EJKs

MALACAÑANG shrugged off a call by United States lawmakers urging their President Donald Trump to call out Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte over the widespread drug-related extrajudicial killings in the country, saying that the Duterte administration is for upholding the rule of law.

Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque was referring to the statement by US Congress members Randy Hultgren and James P. McGovern, who share the chairmanship of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, which called on Trump to “impress upon President Duterte the United States’ profound concern over reported extra-judicial killings associated with the Philippine government’s war on drugs,” and that the United States should stick with championing human rights, due process, and the rule of law.