Human rights not popularity contest — CHR

MANILA, Philippines — Policies that impact on human rights should not be implemented simply because they are popular with the public, Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairman Chito Gascon said in reaction to survey results showing high public’s approval for the government’s war against illegal drugs.

Gascon stressed that the high public approval will not stop the CHR from calling for investigations on the thousands of deaths related to police anti-drug operations. 

“We have been well aware that the President and his anti-drug efforts have been popular with the people,” said Gascon on Monday. “But this does not and cannot constitute a license to run roughshod on the Bill of Rights and the rule of law as human rights are too important to be subjected to a popularity contest.”

A recent SWS survey showed 78 percent of Filipinos supporting the war on drugs. It also showed that 60 percent believe that the arrests of tambays or loiterers constitute human rights violations. 

CHR spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia said the commission has always been supportive of measures addressing the illegal drug trade and use in the country due to its ill effects to the lives of people. However, she stressed, this support is qualified by issues relating to how the government implements its anti-illegal drug campaign. 

“It is important to probe if Filipinos also approve of the ways in which the campaign against illegal drugs is carried out on the ground. If we recall in September 2017, Social Weather Stations also released a survey noting that half of Filipinos don’t believe in our police’s alibi of ‘nanlaban’ (resisting arrest) to justify deaths during anti-drug operations,” she added.