The Department of Foreign Affairs slammed Human Rights Watch (HRW) for “intentionally misleading” the public with its report that the Philippines’ human rights situation is at its worst since the presidency of strongman Ferdinand Marcos.
Following HRW’s release of its 2017 Global Report on Human Rights in which they hit anew the current administration’s war on drugs, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano said that the group is positioning the country’s efforts in a bad light.
“We will not allow Human Rights Watch to portray an unfair and unjust image of our country nor will we let it question the strength of our democracy,” Cayetano said in a statement.
Cayetano challenged HRW to prove their report that the 12,000 killed were all victims of the drug war, stressing that “they are among those that has been deliberately misrepresenting the figures to make it appear that there exists a culture of impunity in the Philippines and that the country’s democratic institutions are at risk.”
The DFA secretary said that “these assertions are unfair to the Philippines and to the Filipino people.”
He also said that the country’s “booming economy is a testament to good governance and adherence to law.”
(DAILY NEWS ROUND UP FOR 01/ 22 / 18)