Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 5) – The move of the Duterte administration to suspend loans and financial grants from states who called for a probe into the Philippines' drug war was only done out of "outrage," Malacañang admitted Thursday.

"That was made because of what these countries did when they passed a resolution condemning the war on drugs in this country. It was more of an outrage reaction," Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a press briefing.

"Having already expressed our stand on that, perhaps there is now a reason to change it," he said.

Malacañang issued Wednesday a copy of a February 27 memorandum which ordered all department secretaries, and heads of agencies, government-owned and controlled corporations and state financial institutions to resume talks for signing loan and grant agreements. These pertain to agreements with countries that had voted for or co-sponsored Iceland's resolution urging the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to look into the killings and other alleged human rights abuses in the Philippines.

The memorandum, signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea "by order of the President" is "effective immediately."

On March 2, the United States Embassy, through the US Agency for International Development, donated $37 million to the Philippines, one of the countries affected by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

There were 24 other countries who received this grant, but Panelo said he will verify whether this was what triggered the Duterte administration to finally resume accepting aid from other countries.

On July 11, 2019, 17 member states of the UN Human Rights Council voted to adopt Iceland's resolution calling for an investigation into the Philippines' drug war. On August 27, 2019, Malacañang issued an order stopping all negotiations for aid from Iceland and the 17 other states supportive of the UN probe.

These countries are Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Fiji, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Slovakia, Spain, Ukraine, UK, and Uruguay. Fourteen other nations, including the Philippines and China, voted against the conduct of a probe. The remaining 15 abstained.

Local and international human rights groups claimed that there were more than 20,000 extrajudicial killings under the admnistration's anti-narcotics campaign, something which the Duterte government has repeatedly denied.