Roxas sad human rights campaign warning becoming ‘true’

MANILA, Philippines  — Former presidential candidate Mar Roxas on Thursday said he is saddened that his campaign warnings against human rights violations are becoming real.

“Wala namang tuwa na ‘I told you so’ dahil mga buhay ito. May tao, may magulang, may anak, may kapatid, may isang kinabukasan na nabura sa bawat pagpatay na ito,” Roxas said in a recorded ambush interview during the mass for justice at the University of Santo Tomas.

“So ‘yun ang sinabi ko nu’ng nakaraan—noong kampanya. Hindi ko ikinatutuwa na nangyayari ‘yan sa atin ngayon ,” he added.

Roxas was reacting to the spate of drug-related killings in the country which he claimed he warned about. He called for justice for these killings.

During the presidential campaign in 2016, Roxas, former interior secretary, said then rival Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s three to six months deadline to wipe out crime is a false vow.

READ: Duterte twits Roxas for criticizing his 3-6 month vow to end criminality

Roxas slammed Duterte’s claim that Davao City has low crime rates citing that it has the fourth highest crime rate in the country.

His camp also questioned rival Sen. Grace Poe for considering then Duterte as her anti-crime czar despite the human rights abuses attributed to him.

Roxas’ former spokesman, Ibarra “Barry” Gutierrez III, cited the murder allegations being tagged to Duterte.

“Senator Poe's pronouncement appointing Mayor Duterte as crime czar makes it clear that she cannot lead the forces for a decent Philippines. How can she stand up for the rights of our citizens if she believes the Mayor when he says we have to murder children to suppress crime?” Gutierrez said.

“Being a president is a serious job. A president promotes and guards the interests of the entire Filipino nation. This cannot be done through half-baked pronouncements, tirades or off the cuff statements. The word of a president and commander-in-chief is authentic policy,” Roxas said in a previous statement.