UN rights probe can help prove gov't critics wrong, Robredo says

MANILA, Philippines— Vice President Leni Robredo on Sunday said a United Nations Human Rights Council investigation into allegations of human rights violations in the Philippines is a chance for the government to disprove the claims.

This, after the Palace and the Department of Foreign Affairs rejected a call by 11 UN special rapporteurs for the UNHRC to look into reports of drug-related killings and of harassment of human rights defenders.

Robredo, on her weekly radio program, said in Filipino that "if I were the government and I have nothing to hide, I would welcome that."

Officials of the Duterte administration often use a similar refrain when critics raise concerns over due process and privacy.

"If they conduct and investigations and the probers don't find anything, wouldn't that be an affirmation that what [the Philippines] has been saying is correct?" she explained.

"This is an opportunity to disprove all the accusations." 

READ: Philippines rejects call for UN probe into alleged rights violations

On Friday, 11 special rapporteurs urged the UN Human Rights Council  to look into the “staggering number of unlawful deaths and police killings in the context of the so-called war on drugs, as well as killings of human rights defenders.”

The Palace, however, rejected the call and called it an “outrageous interference.”

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo also called the 11 experts which include, Agnes Callamard, a vocal critic of President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, as propagandists.

The Department of Foreign Affairs, likewise, rejected the call to conduct a probe, saying the probers might show bias and that an independent investigation may "undermine domestic processes" like the investigation and prosecution of suspects in human rights abuses.

Reacting to these rejections, Robredo, a lawyer, said she has raised concerns over human rights violations during the Duterte administration. She said she has been approached by families that have lost parents and spouses  in extrajudicial killings.

Robredo reaped criticism from fellow government officials in 2017 for speaking about the so-called war on drugs in a video message played at a side event of a United Nations forum on illegal drugs.

Rep. Pantalaeon Alvarez, House speaker at the time, called Robredo a traitor and said he would consider moves to impeach her as vice president.

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The vice president reiterated that there is no need to reject any investigation unless our government has something to hide. She said the probe’s intention is also good.

"If it's true that there aren't any human rights violations in the Philippines, why would we block the investigations? Wouldn't it be better to to show that we have nothing to hide instead of blocking it?" the vice president also said.

Robredo also explained that the human rights bodies like United Nations are supposed to be added protection "for humanity"

She said: "If the government is not functioning in protecting human rights, there is another body that can pick up the slack."

The government has been saying that the Philippines has its own institutions and processes to hold those who violate human rights accountable and that groups like the UNHRC and the International Criminal Court to leave the matter to the Philippine justice system.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency's January data acknowledges the deaths of 5,281 "drug personalities" died in anti-narcotics operations.

The record was part of the #RealNumbersPH to counter allegedly false information on the so-called war on drugs. The government used to release data monthly but it slowed down updating data since 2018.