UNHRC: What we have here is a PR problem

Frankly speaking, I’m for leaving the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for it has become a PR problem to the Philippines. Yes, for me it is a PR issue and we should deal with it as such. Come on, we know too well that Agnes Callamard, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions at the Office of the UNHRC failed to give the Philippines the rightful figure on the deaths since Pres. Duterte assumed the presidency of the Philippines. For all we know she has been fed with disinformation (we often call it fake news) which is happening all over the world.

But seriously there really is no impact to Iceland or the Philippines if we cut our diplomatic ties with this small nation. Didn’t we say that Iceland only had 338,000 people… meaning… there are more people living in Barangay Guadalupe in Cebu City than the whole of Iceland? Last May when we visited Estonia, I was surprised to learn that their population was only a million, which meant there were more Cebuano speakers than Estonians. Now do we have to deal with Iceland with a miniscule population?

I have no doubt that Callamard got the figures in her resolution from the political opposition that has been sending traitorous documents to the UN. This is a huge error by the UNHRC… to use political information against the Duterte government. Just look at who is supporting the UNHRC resolution, no less than Vice-President Leni Robredo and CHR of the Philippines Chito Gascon who are both blue-blooded Yellowtards.

So when the UNHRC said that their resolution was a “victory” for those who have exposed the “deteriorating” human rights situation in the Philippines, as pointed out by the UN special rapporteur, this was a totally fabrication of evidence by the UNHRC. Perhaps Callamard ought to look at the number of tourists visiting Philippine tourist destinations and perhaps asked them if they had problems with their security. I’m sure that Callamard would be taken by surprise.

Again, our police already admitted the figure that they officially had was 6,000 deaths in the war against drugs. Perhaps Callamard ought to ask herself, if so many people have been killed…how come Pres. Duterte has the highest popularity rating of any President in power right now? If our security is in dire straights, I doubt if the President would even get half the ratings that he recently got.

The UNHRC draft resolution, co-sponsored by more than two dozen states, also formally requested that the High Commissioner on Human Rights Michelle Bachelet prepare a comprehensive report on the human rights situation in the Philippines and present it at the council’s 44th session. Hmmm… perhaps it is high time for some kind of sleuthing to find out who amongst the opposition might get into Michelle Bachelet and give her more false information? As I said, it is a PR problem that we need to resolve!

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It’s mid-July already and tropical depression Falcon has picked up speed as it moves west, PAGASA said that it forecast heavy rain in parts of the Philippines. As reported, ‘Falcon’ was 690 kilometers east of Tuguegarao City, Cagayan and moving west at 30 kph, up from 25 kph and has maximum winds of up to 55 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 65 kph. Strange as it may seem… but there were strong rains that struck Ormoc City and Negros Oriental. We did have rains in Cebu, but it wasn’t disturbing to say the least.

The weather bureau said that light to moderate with occasional heavy monsoon rains will prevail over MIMAROPA, Western Visayas, Albay, Masbate, Sorsogon and Northern Samar and might end up this Friday. What’s disturbing in many of the PAGASA identified areas were the incessant rains that caused a lot of flooding. Hence, people are advised to take precautionary measures, coordinate with local disaster risk reduction and management offices, and continue monitoring for updates, especially the Thunderstorm Advisories and Heavy Rainfall Warnings to be issued by PAGASA regional services divisions.

This means that fisher folk and ferryboats need to get Coast Guard approval before they are allowed into the rough sea. This means, fish prices would go up since their stocks would be depleted in the next few days. Like I said, this Tropical Storm Falcon is quite far from the Visayas, yet it has affected many parts far from the raging storm. Let us hope that by Friday this storm would no longer affect the country. Once more, the time has come for Congress to get serious in erecting properly and purposely built evacuation centers that can be mothballed if not in use…so when the time has come for it to be used… we can spare our schools and our school children.

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