(Eagle News) –Senator Risa Hontiveros lashed out at Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, as she called on the government to heed the calls of 38 states for the Philippines to put an end to drug killings and to collaborate in a United Nations probe into the drug war.
“I find Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano’s remark, saying that the 38 countries are simply biased and misinformed, ridiculous. So ibig sabihin biased ang Montenegro sa gobyerno natin? Nagsisinungaling lamang ang Malta? Dilawan ang Croatia at Cyprus? It’s absurd!” Hontiveros said in a statement on Monday, June 25.
According to Hontiveros, Cayetano “should know that many of the countries that signed the petition have various missions to the country, manned by hundreds of staff. ”
She said this means “they know what is happening around here.”
“And assuming without conceding that Cayetano is correct in saying that these countries are biased and misinformed, does this not speak of his effectiveness as the country’s foreign affairs secretary? Following his logic, does this mean as foreign affairs secretary, he failed to convince the international community of the real situation in the country? China lang ba kaya niyang kumbinsihin?” she said.
According to Hontiveros, “the Duterte government must understand that the Philippines is part of a global community joined not only by trade and economic ties, but by the shared respect for human dignity and social welfare.”
As such, she said “we …have an obligation to democracy, human rights and rule of law.”
She said this obligation “includes subjecting our public policies and governance affairs to scrutiny, in the same way that we may scrutinize, protest or constructively engage the actions of other states or global players.”
“Kaya tama na sana ang palusot. The Duterte government should stop making excuses. If it has nothing to hide, it will not find it hard to cooperate with the international community to investigate all related deaths and hold perpetrators accountable, and to take concrete actions to stop the killings associated with its bloody war against drugs,” she said.
“The fact that these countries were compelled to speak in one voice against the abuses in our country is testament that the government is not doing enough,” she added.
In the United Nations Human Rights Council 38th session on Tuesday, June 19, the 38 states—Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Macedonia, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom and the United States—called on 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.”
They also noted they were “concerned over reports of harassment of persons exercising their rights to freedom of opinion and expression, including human rights defenders and journalists … [and] members of the Commission on Human Rights.”
Only recently, the US said it would withdraw from the UNHR, citing what it said was its political bias and anti-Israel stance.
