Leni hopes Rody addresses EJK issues in 2nd SONA

MANILA, Philippines -  Vice President Leni Robredo hopes President Duterte would address various issues hounding his administration, including the extrajudicial killings triggered by his war on drugs, in his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) next month. 

Robredo’s spokesperson Georgina Hernandez said many Filipinos are waiting for answers to the problems being faced by the country right now. 

“VP Leni is hoping that all key issues will be addressed, that includes issues on human rights violations,” Hernandez said.

The President is set to deliver his second State of the Nation Address on July 24 in time for the resumption of session of the 17th Congress. 

Earlier, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein criticized Duterte and US President Donald Trump for “breaking long-held taboos” in their respective support for torture and extrajudicial killings. 

Zeid during his speech in London on Monday night said the “dangers to the entire system of international law are therefore very real.” 

Duterte has bristled at criticisms of his anti-illegal drugs campaign in which thousands have been killed since he took office on June 30 last year. 

Several countries including France, Germany and Latvia called on the Philippines to allow without conditions UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Agnes Callamard to investigate the killings being blamed on the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.

Other nations also expressed alarm over the alleged extrajudicial killings in the country and urged the Philippines not to reinstate the death penalty for heinous crimes.

There have been debates on the number of people killed in the course of the drug war as figures are pegged between 7,000 and 9,000.

Last May, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano led the Philippine delegation to Geneva, Switzerland for the United Nations Human Rights Council’s review on the human rights situation in the country. 

During his presentation, the former senator denied there was a “sudden wave” of state-sponsored extrajudicial killings in the Philippines after the administration launched its war on drugs.