“License to Kill”

The European Parliament and European Union
In September 2016, the European Parliament urged the Philippine government “to put an
end to the current wave of extrajudicial executions and killings, launch an ‘immediate
investigation’ into them and adopt ‘specific, comprehensive policies and programmes,’ in
full compliance with national and international obligations and respect for human rights.” 335
The European Union has not announced any restrictions on its current and ongoing
training and capacity building for the Philippine National Police through its EPJUST I and
EPJUST II programs, which ended last year and has since been replaced with GoJust
(Governance in Justice), a program that supports the Philippines’ justice-sector reforms. In
October, EU Ambassador to the Philippines Franz Jessen announced that the Philippines
would help to fund rehabilitation of Philippine drug addicts, describing drug abuse as “a
shared problem, and it has international and national dimensions.” 336
Responding to the European Parliament criticism (and mistaking it for EU criticism),
President Duterte denounced colonial-era atrocities by European countries, and stating: “I
read the condemnation of the European Union [sic] against me. I will tell them fuck you.
You’re doing it in atonement for your sins. [After all their atrocities], the European Union
now has the gall to condemn me. I repeat it, fuck you.” 337
In October, following state visits to Brunei and China, Duterte claimed that the EU had
threatened to cut aid to the Philippines if abuses in the “war on drugs” continued—an
allegation Human Rights Watch cannot confirm—and again launched a tirade against EU
and US officials for their threats to end aid in response to the extrajudicial killings:
Son of a bitch, is that how low you think about us? Assistance, US aid, you
can go to hell. EU, no wonder you are in shambles now. You cannot even
335 “Human rights: Philippines, Somalia and Zimbabwe,” European Parliament press release, September 15, 2016,
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/20160909IPR41788/human-rights-philippines-somalia-and-zimbabwe.
336 Estrella Torres, “Despite lashing from Duterte, EU gives funds for drug rehab in PH,” Philippine Daily Inquirer, October 1,
2016, http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/820933/despite-lashing-from-duterte-eu-gives-funds-for-drug-rehab-in-ph.
337 Leila B. Salaverria, “Fuck you, EU—Duterte,” Philippine Daily Inquirer, September 21, 2016,
https://globalnation.inquirer.net/145189/fuck-you-eu-duterte.
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