By Camille A. Aguinaldo, Reporter
WITH THE Philippines winning a seat in the United Nation Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano on Monday called on New-York based human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) to work with the Philippines in upholding human rights in the country.
“But I think, the elections is done. So, why don’t they just work with us rather than against us? Human rights, it’s not confrontational unless you have no choice. In human rights, as long as the one you’re criticizing is willing to talk, willing to listen, they should engage them,” he told reporters on Monday.
The Philippines received 165 out of 192 votes cast by member states in the UNHRC, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said over the weekend. The country gets to serve another three-year term in the 47-member Council based in Geneva, Switzerland from 2019 to 2021.
HRW has opposed the inclusion of the Philippines to the international council due to alleged human rights violation in connection with the government’s campaign against illegal drugs.
Mr. Cayetano said he has always invited numerous international human rights organizations to investigate the situation in the Philippines to see for themselves but said these groups have pushed their conclusion, which he said had no basis.
“So you know these NGOs, some of them and their advocacy have done so much for human rights. Pero ‘yung iba nawala sa tamang landas nila eh (But others have been lost from the right path),” he said.
“Some of them became so political, ideological….So, instead of looking at ano ang buhay ng isang ordinaryong Pilipino, safe ba ang mga anak nila, safe ba ang kalye, ‘yung kanilang ideology at ‘yung kanilang pulitika ang tinutulak nila (the lives of ordinary Filipinos, are their children safe, are the streets safe, they are pushing their own ideology and own politics),” he added.
For her part, Senator Leila M. De Lima slammed the country’s inclusion in the council as “the height of hypocrisy.”
“A government sitting on a monstrous pile of corpses of more than 22,000 mostly poor Filipinos should have no right preaching human rights and taking part in an important global institution tasked to address situations of gross rights violations across the globe,” she said in a statement.
Senator Risa N. Hontiveros-Baraquel said the country winning a seat in the UNHRC was “grossly misleading.”
“First, it is grossly misleading. It exposes the government’s ignorance of the UN’s complex dynamic. Ano ito, Lotto, nanalo tayo? (What is this? Like we won in the lotto?) The Duterte government cannot claim winning a seat on the UNHRC when all UN member-states agreed to take turns sitting on the council,” she said in a statement.
For his part, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director-General Oscar D. Albayalde said in a press briefing on Monday, “We can assure you, rito sa (here at the) PNP, human rights is entrenched,…it is an institutional policy. It is part of our standards.” — with Vince Angelo C. Ferreras

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