MANILA - Malacañang on Thursday said the government is not cracking down on foreign critics of President Rodrigo Duterte, including those perceived to be sympathetic with left-leaning organizations.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said there is a law banning foreigners from participating in “political” or “partisan” activities in the country.

“Hindi po iyan crackdown, talaga pong iyan ang batas. Sabi ko nga po, dura lex sed lex – the law may be harsh, but such is the law,” Roque said in a press briefing.

“At alam ninyo, napakadami naman pong mga dayuhan na na-deport na because of partisan activities.”

• BI denies crackdown on foreign critics

Roque issued this statement following the deportation of European socialist party official Giacomo Filibeck, and the arrest of Australian nun Patricia Fox by immigration officials.

• Criminalizing criticism: Deportation of foreign activists 'act of cowardice' - Rosales

Filibeck, deputy secretary-general of the Party of European Socialists, was supposed to attend a recent Akbayan event but was denied entry at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.

Fox, on the other hand, was taken from her house and brought to the Bureau of Immigration office after she took part in a human rights fact-finding mission in the troubled south.

Duterte himself said on Wednesday that it was him who ordered the probe on Fox for “disorderly conduct.”

• Duterte says he ordered Aussie nun probed for 'disorderly conduct'

Roque noted that even during the time of Duterte’s predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, several foreigners were also arrested or deported for participating in protest rallies, among them Dutch Thomas Van Beersum.

• Immigration to deport, ban Dutch protester

He added it was not the first time for Fox to be arrested in the Philippines. He said Fox was apparently detained in 2013 for joining a farmers’ protest at Hacienda Luisita.

The spokesman also downplayed a recent event held by the ruling PDP-Laban party, which was attended by members of the Communist Party of China. He said the participation of the Chinese party members cannot be considered a violation of the law.

“That was not a political activity. It was a formal party-to-party contact. It was not a political protest,” he said.

“Ang ayaw natin iyong naghihimasok, pero iyong pumapasok sa kasunduan ang 2 partido hindi po political activity iyon.”