Human rights best promoted by ending poverty, says Palace

During the International Human Rights Day, Malacañang said that the best way for the rights of every individual to be truly experienced is by eradicating poverty in the country.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the Duterte administration is doubling up efforts to uplift the less privileged Filipinos, the poor, the marginalized, and most vulnerable by promoting their best interests.

In saying most vulnerable, Roque meant the women and children in crisis situations, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, migrant workers, older persons, and people and communities displaced by natural and human-induced calamities.

“The best way to do this is to ensure government efficiency and effectiveness that will translate to every Filipino getting a fighting chance to overcome poverty, to uplift one’s status in society and to live a life with higher dignity,” Roque said in a statement.

“That direction is what inspires the government’s compliance with its human rights obligations. As a Nobel Peace Prize winner once said, ‘poverty is the absence of human rights,” he added.

Roque said the government shall strive to bestow upon every Filipino an equal share in the nation’s progress.

“And we are pleased that this direction has been accepted by no less than the highest peer review body in the world on all matters of human rights, which is the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), when it unanimously accepted and commended the Outcome Report on the Philippines’ Universal Periodic Review this year,” he said.

(DAILY NEWS ROUND UP FOR 12 / 11 / 17)