Connect with us

Headline

PHL delegation leaves for Switzerland for Universal Periodic Review

Published

on

Photo: Alan Peter Cayetano/Facebook.com

Photo: Alan Peter Cayetano/Facebook.com

MANILA – A 16-member delegation left for Geneva, Switzerland Thursday morning on a mission to present the state of human rights in the Philippines during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) slated Monday (May 8).

The team, led by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano and Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra, will present the human rights-based development programs of the Philippines and measures to fulfill its obligations to the eight international treaties ratified in the past years.

The delegation includes representatives of the Presidential Human Rights Committee, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Health (DOH), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Presidential Communications Office (PCO), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Philippine National Police (PNP), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and National Commission on Indigenous Peoples.

Cayetano, in a statement, said the UPR would be the perfect opportunity to correct the misconceptions of the international community regarding the alleged human rights violations of the present administration.

“There are a lot of facts that need to be clarified and put in proper context so our friends in the United Nations and the international community would understand the extent of problems of corruption, illegal drugs, and criminality in the Philippines,” Cayetano said.

“We want to share the overall picture of our human rights-based development programs, especially our gains, priorities in the coming years, as well as the major challenges at hand.”

The senator, meanwhile, pointed out that the period under review covers five years of the Aquino administration and 10 months of the Duterte administration.

“Human rights issues were raised by various sectors not just in this administration,” Cayetano said.

The UPR happens every three to four years, where the states present their human rights records to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The last time the Philippines participated in the UPR was in 2012.

Besides the state of human rights in the country, the Philippine delegation will also present the state’s policies on labor; the environment; and vulnerable sectors such as women, children, persons with disabilities (PWDs), and the elderly in the country.

Cayetano has reiterated that human rights involve not only the rights of criminals but also the security of civilians.

“Human security and national security is part of human rights and we will endeavor the whole team to UN, Europe, US to the whole world that the President is working hard to make each and every Filipino safe for our country,” Cayetano said in a previous Facebook live video.

He pointed out that because illegal drugs affect 3 million to 4 million Filipinos, it would be what he described as “a gross human rights violation” if the Duterte administration “would not do anything about it”

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Maria in Vancouver

Lifestyle1 week ago

Nobody Wants This…IRL (In Real Life)

Just like everyone else who’s binged on Netflix series, “Nobody Wants This” — a romcom about a newly single rabbi...

Lifestyle2 weeks ago

Family Estrangement: Why It’s Okay

Family estrangement is the absence of a previously long-standing relationship between family members via emotional or physical distancing to the...

Lifestyle2 months ago

Becoming Your Best Version

By Matter Laurel-Zalko As a woman, I’m constantly evolving. I’m constantly changing towards my better version each year. Actually, I’m...

Lifestyle2 months ago

The True Power of Manifestation

I truly believe in the power of our imagination and that what we believe in our lives is an actual...

Maria in Vancouver3 months ago

DECORATE YOUR HOME 101

By Matte Laurel-Zalko Our home interiors are an insight into our brains and our hearts. It is our own collaboration...

Maria in Vancouver4 months ago

Guide to Planning a Wedding in 2 Months

By Matte Laurel-Zalko Are you recently engaged and find yourself in a bit of a pickle because you and your...

Maria in Vancouver4 months ago

Staying Cool and Stylish this Summer

By Matte Laurel-Zalko I couldn’t agree more when the great late Ella Fitzgerald sang “Summertime and the livin’ is easy.”...

Maria in Vancouver5 months ago

Ageing Gratefully and Joyfully

My 56th trip around the sun is just around the corner! Whew. Wow. Admittedly, I used to be afraid of...

Maria in Vancouver5 months ago

My Love Affair With Pearls

On March 18, 2023, my article, The Power of Pearls was published. In that article, I wrote about the history...

Maria in Vancouver6 months ago

7 Creative Ways to Propose!

Sometime in April 2022, my significant other gave me a heads up: he will be proposing to me on May...