(Eagle News)–The Palace on Saturday, June 6, said the government will continue to respect its international legal obligations, including human rights, taking offense at the “faulty conclusions” made by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner in its recent report.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the Philippines “firmly rejects” the conclusion the country’s “heavy-handed” focus on national security has led to “serious” human rights violations as they were premised on among others “the alleged violations of the right to life, the supposedly arbitrary deprivation of liberty of those involved in drug cases, the alleged violations of the right to health, and the implication that Filipino civic space is being destroyed by the focus given to public order and national security.”
According to Roque, the rule of law is upheld in the Philippines and “any offenses committed by law-enforcement or otherwise will be dealt with in accordance with due process.”
“Our courts stand ready to receive and rule on any complaints and their autonomy is respected by the Duterte administration,” Roque said.
He noted the country’s “commitment to the campaign against illegal drugs is buoyed not just by its gains with respect to drug users rehabilitated and drug peddlers stopped, but by the public’s continued support for the President, who won his office on the issue of illegal drugs.”
As for the supposed crackdown on critics, Roque said the UN-OHCHR’s conclusions were “belied by its own findings that the ‘Philippines has a long-standing, robust tradition of human rights advocacy and civil society activism, with 60,000 registered non-governmental organizations.'”
“The Philippine Government notes the recommendations made by the (UN-OHCHR) but cannot commit to their full implementation given the faulty conclusions on which they were premised,…” Roque said.
“That being said, the government will continue to respect its international legal obligations, including human rights,” he added.
