Relations between the Philippines and France remain strong amid the hubbub over President Rodrigo Duterte’s casual take on French criminal law, the Chargè D’ Affaires of the French embassy in Manila Laurent Legodec assured Wednesday, August 31.
President Duterte had casually issued a pronouncement during a speech tending to cast French criminal law as positing that a criminal is deemed guilty until proven innocent.
The French side did not lose time in rectifying the misimpression, affirming in the process that French justice adheres to the tenet of presuming innocent until proven guilty.
“The France-Philippines relations are very vibrant and diverse … France and the Philippines through the years have always been good friends. We always had friendly relations,” he said during the opening of a photo exhibit at the National Museum in Manila City.
“It is also in this spirit that we have issued this statement. We felt the need for this clarification but it means also that it’s just for the sake of our good relations because they are really sound, good, established on a good basis,” he added.
“We have to point out that, as in the Philippines, the presumption of innocence until proven guilty is at the core of the French judicial system, based on the principles enshrined in the French Declaration of Human and Civic Rights of August 26, 1789,” the French embassy said in a statement.
The French diplomat further said they also wanted to correct the president’s assertions so that Filipinos could have a better understanding of France’s traditions, culture, and especially their legal system.
“It is important also for the Filipino audience to know how it works in France, for people who would like to discover our country,” he said.
Legodec stressed that the French statement was merely a clarification and not a “protest”, as had been described by Duterte in his speech later in the day during the 23rd anniversary of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in Taguig City.
Legodec, however, concurred with Malacañang’s explanation made by presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella: “We believe in the rule of law, due process, and respect for human rights because this is at the core of our democratic societies.”
“France is a democratic society. The Philippines is a democratic society. We’re happy that we share those same democratic values as it had been said by the president’s spokesperson earlier,” he added.
As for the embassy’s stand regarding the spate of killings in the country, Legodec acknowledged that it was not in their place to comment with what’s happening in the country but he is assured that Philippines, as a democratic society like France, had the means to tackle these kinds of problems with regards to due process.
Legodec also declined to comment about the statements of United Nations Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard regarding the human rights situations in the Philippines.
He only clarified that Callamard was speaking in her capacity as the UN Special Rapporteur and not on behalf of the French government.
“She’s working in the framework of the United Nations. She does not speak on behalf of the French government,” he said.