{"id":257129,"date":"2020-06-04T23:09:02","date_gmt":"2020-06-05T03:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=257129"},"modified":"2020-06-04T23:09:02","modified_gmt":"2020-06-05T03:09:02","slug":"palace-to-un-rights-chief-filipinos-rights-freedoms-protected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/06\/04\/palace-to-un-rights-chief-filipinos-rights-freedoms-protected\/","title":{"rendered":"Palace to UN rights chief: Filipinos\u2019 rights, freedoms protected"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FILE: Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. at the Presidential Guest House in Panacan, Davao City on January 4, 2018. JOEY DALUMPINES\/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA \u2013 Malaca\u00f1ang on Thursday asserted that the Philippines is not suppressing freedom of expression and tightening censorship during the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no truth to the accusation of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights that the Philippines is using the Covid-19 crisis as an excuse to clamp down on freedom of expression and to tighten censorship,\u201d Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press statement issued Thursday night.<\/p>\n

In a statement on Wednesday, UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet raised alarm over the supposedly tightened censorship in Asian nations, including the Philippines.<\/p>\n

Bachelet also expressed worry over the arbitrary arrests of people who criticize the government\u2019s response to the coronavirus crisis or even simply share views on the pandemic in different Asian countries.<\/p>\n

Roque assured Bachelet that Filipinos\u2019 rights and freedoms are protected under the watch of President Rodrigo Duterte.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe remain a nation that takes pride in protecting our people\u2019s rights and freedoms, among which is the freedom of expression,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Roque also noted that the \u201cconsistent\u201d high approval scores of Duterte \u201caffirm public support for his leadership\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe remain steadfast in our pursuit of our obligations and commitments in the stewardship of the welfare and the human rights of our people,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Roque, however, lamented that on numerous occasions, the Filipino people\u2019s freedom \u201cbecomes subject to derogation\u201d.<\/p>\n

He noted that a form of derogation falls under the criminal clause in Republic Act (RA) 11469 or the Bayanihan To Heal As One Act.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe unconscionable conduct by individuals or groups to create, perpetrate, or spread false information on the Covid-19 crisis on social media and other platforms does not constitute a right or freedom, but a crime,\u201d Roque said.<\/p>\n

Under RA 11469, people who are peddling false news about Covid-19 pandemic could face a two-month jail sentence or a fine ranging from PHP10,000 to PHP1 million, or both.<\/p>\n

Roque, nevertheless, guaranteed that the Philippines has a \u201cworking, independent and functioning” justice system.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Duterte Administration takes each case, be it a violation of the freedom of the press or of any other human rights, brought before its attention seriously and resolves each one within our domestic processes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Thus, rehashed claims of impunity are \u201cunfounded,\u201d Roque said.<\/p>\n

Roque also said impunity has no place in the Philippines.<\/p>\n

\u201cLaw enforcers operate on strict protocols and transgressors of the law are made accountable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA \u2013 Malaca\u00f1ang on Thursday asserted that the Philippines is not suppressing freedom of expression and tightening censorship during the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":252612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-257129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-ruth-abbey-gita-carlos","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257129"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":257130,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257129\/revisions\/257130"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}