NDF tags gov’t as top human rights violator

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government remains the number one violator of human rights in all aspects despite it being a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the communist National Democratic Front (NDF) said yesterday.

NDF spokesperson Maria Malaya said the administration of President Duterte has surpassed its predecessors in perpetrating grave human rights violations against the people.

Since 2016 when Duterte was elected, more than 20 persons have become victims of extrajudicial killings and more than 10 frustrated killings were committed by the police and military.

Malaya said almost 300 people have been charged with trumped-up criminal cases, while more than 50 have been jailed as political prisoners. 

For those left behind by the spate of human rights violations in recent years, former education secretary Armin Luistro said one way to help them is to make them feel that they were not forgotten.

“Someone said if it’s not worth fighting for, it is not valuable,” Luistro said during the launch of the Citizens for Promoting Human Rights (CPHR) on Monday in commemorating the 70th year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“This is one of the best times to launch a project that will allow individuals, groups, organizations, communities to spread the word that human rights is not dead,” he added.

The CPHR seeks to respond to the current human rights challenges by promoting human rights as a Filipino value.

It will also serve as alternative mechanism to receive individual and group donations for victims of human rights violations.

“We work with orphans and the families who have been left behind by various situations where human rights have been violated,” Luistro said.

Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairman Chito Gascon said CPHR was inspired by the public support that the commission received when Congress threatened to reduce its budget to P1,000.

“They didn’t expect that the public would get angry. It is unusual that constituents call on their congressmen, but they were calling on their congressmen, demanding them to explain,” he recalled, noting that they have received messages from people wanting to donate to the agency.

“We were just overwhelmed here in the commission… We felt that this goodwill from the public should be harnessed, so the idea of the fund came about,” he said.

Gascon said the creation of CPHR shows a lot of people still value human rights despite the challenges it has faced in recent years.   – With Janvic Mateo, Gerry Lee Gorit