Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the government has its procedures to determine if law enforcement authorities comply with the rule of law and due process in response to a joint statement made by 38 members of the (UNHRC).

The United States withdrew from the UN body last week alleging it had become a “cesspool of political bias.”

The statement urged the government to stop alleged killings related to the war on drugs and what it termed as “reports of harassment of persons exercising their rights to freedom of opinion and expression.”

“We are also concerned about the harassment of members of the Commission on Human Rights. We call upon the Philippines to provide and guarantee a safe and secure environment for all, including journalists and Human Rights defenders,” UNHRC said in the statement.

“Even without the statement, the government is already implementing the law,” Roque said.

A UNHRC statement issued by Iceland urged the government to end its war on drugs and participate in efforts to investigate alleged deaths linked to the anti-narcotics campaign.

Such a cooperation should be “without preconditions or limitations.”

The Palace earlier had said it would accede to a UNHRC probe on the conduct of the anti-narcotics campaign if the special rapporteur who would conduct it was not Agnes Callamard who, Roque said, is unfit to conduct an “objective and unbiased” inquiry given her earlier statements against the government’s anti-drugs campaign.

“We urge the government of the Philippines to take all necessary measures to bring killings associated with the campaign against illegal drugs to an end and cooperate with the international community to investigate all related deaths and hold perpetrators accountable,” the UNHRC statement read.