Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 7) — The Philippine Delegation will face members of the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday to present the state of human rights in the country.
And it’s no easy task, says the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) as the Philippine representatives will be asked strong and hard questions based on reports gathered from different agencies.
According CHR Chair Chito Gascon, “The significant number of the questions we think will be about the state of killings resulting from the war on drugs of the Duterte administration.”
The 16-member delegation is led by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano and Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra.
Read: Duterte admin to defend drug war before UN in Geneva
The CHR is not part of the team because it’s an independent office separate from the executive branch. But some of its members, including Gascon, will be in Geneva, Switzerland.
“We will be there to monitor. In this very hall, we will be live streaming because it happens at 8 o’clock (a.m.) in Geneva time which will be 2 (p.m.) here.”
Cayetano says it’s their chance to refute the facts that reached the international community regarding the alleged human rights violations under the Duterte administration.
Cayetano said, “Let me speak today of the misunderstanding in our campaign against drugs, crime, and corruption…the Philippine government, past administrations tried to strengthen the rule of law. The problem is, we were slowly turning into a narco state.
In his opening presentation before the UN Human Rights Council on May 5, Cayetano boasted about the government’s war on drugs. He said authorities recorded only 2,692 deaths resulting from presumed legitimate law enforcement operation as against the reported 7000 deaths.
“Are there many more killings? Yes, because there are more operations. There are more people killed during legitimate police ops,” Cayetano said.
The universal periodic review will also cover human rights issues from 2012 under the Aquino administration.
After the constructive dialogue, the Human Rights Council will again meet with the Philippine delegation in October to present their list of recommendations to address the human rights problem in the country.
