DFA ACCUSES HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH OF INTENTIONALLY MISLEADING INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IN ITS 2017 REPORT ON THE PHILIPPINES
20 January 2018 - The Department of Foreign Affairs today accused Human Rights Watch of intentionally misleading the international community after the New York-based group reported that the human rights situation in the Philippines is at its worst since the time of former President Ferdinand Marcos.
“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,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano said in a statement where he took issue with the group’s assessment of the human rights situation in the Philippines in 2017.
In its 2017 Global Report on Human Rights, the group, which has been consistently critical of President Rodrigo Duterte, reiterated its claim that the government’s campaign against illegal drugs resulted in the deaths of more than 12,000 individuals, mostly members of urban poor communities and including children.
“Human Rights Watch has politicized the issue for its own gain and has not done any real research, study or investigation on the human rights situation in the Philippines,” Secretary Cayetano said as he dared the group to show proof that the 12,000 it said were killed were all victims of the government’s war against illegal drugs.
Secretary Cayetano said that contrary to the claims of Human Rights Watch, the number of drug personalities killed is 3,968 in 80,683 anti-illegal drugs operations conducted by the government from 1 July 2016 to 27 December 2017. The said operations, which also led to the arrest of 119,023 drug personalities, also resulted in the deaths of 86 law enforcement officers and the wounding of 226 others.
Secretary Cayetano said that under President Duterte, the Philippines is doing everything it can to protect the rights of everyone, including criminals, unlike before when government was perceived to be protecting only the rights of the powerful.
“It is because this change is disruptive, those who were previously above the law and those who have political interests to advance have resorted to a massive disinformation campaign,” Secretary Cayetano said.
“Human Rights Watch is 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,” Secretary Cayetano said. “These assertions are unfair to the Philippines and to the Filipino people.”
“Democracy has never been more alive in the Philippines as we finally we have a government that we can really say is of the people and for the people and not for the rich and the powerful alone,” Secretary Cayetano said. “Our booming economy is a testament to good governance and adherence to law.”
The Secretary said proof of this are the latest Social Weather Station surveys that showed President Duterte’s public trust rating at 83 percent during the fourth quarter of the year and his Administration’s public satisfaction rating for rising to a record 79 percent during the same period. END