Closing Remarks

of 

TEODORO L. LOCSIN, JR.

Secretary of Foreign Affairs

on the Occasion of the Human Rights Summit

Secretary Menardo Guevarra,

United Nations Resident Coordinator Gustavo Gonzalez,

Excellencies and members of the diplomatic corps,

Partners in the United Nations,

Colleagues in the government,

Friends from the civil society,

good afternoon.

I wish to congratulate Secretary Menardo Guevarra and his excellent team at the Department of Justice and the Administrative Order 35 Secretariat for the successful conduct of the Human Rights Summit over the course of three days. This event caps a challenging year and demonstrates that even in the midst of a pandemic, the Philippine Government is sincerely committed to ensuring justice through law along with the safety and security of the public, and the careful protection and assiduous promotion of human rights by engaging all stakeholders in meaningful dialogue towards our shared objectives.

As this Summit’s theme underscores, “Peace is the work of justice.” Peace is as much an uncompromising objective as democracy. It is possible to have peace without freedom; we had that during martial law — for a while. then all hell broke loose. Then there is the peace that merely passes the moment, born of exhaustion from anarchy and civil discord.

We seek more than that. We want peace with freedom above all and imperatively through the tightest adherence to justice. And we achieve this by ensuring that the wheels of justice go on turning, not slowly but quickly yet grinding exceeding small so no one escape by reason of impunity usually conferred by connections. And worse yet by laziness and corruption as when criminal cases remain unsolved; and when solved, escape resolution by the lethargy of courts. Accountability mechanisms must be as firmly in place and working; and not just on display for show. Along with these should be general policies and particular measures protecting human rights so as not to encourage their violation with a sense of possible impunity. We must be as assiduous in punishing abuses by those who enforce the laws as we should equally be in punishing those who violate the laws. We don’t want to be known as a place where laws are soft and their enforcement lax; but as one where the laws inexorably and swiftly reach everyone without having to restrain their freedom, curtail their rights, and empower law enforcers more than is in consistent with the foremost imperative of legal and human rights and freedom.

The series of webinars on timely and critical topics –freedom of expression in the digital space without tolerating abuses of personal honor and peace of mind, mainstreaming human rights discussion, the concrete human rights protections and not just vague guarantees in the new Anti-Terrorism Act, and international humanitarian law and children in situations of armed conflict, among others — are not only the pressing issues of the day but are the only justification for the expense, bother and exasperation of having government at all.

Let me put it plainly: we are not in power because we are handsome or in any way special; but only because we credibly swear to uphold the laws which necessarily and foremost include the protection of human rights. If a human right, such as to be spared custodial abuse, is not in a law then you don’t have it in a real and effective way. That is why we needed the new Anti-Terrorism Act. Read it; carefully. There will be those who will invoke its name but ignore its protections. they are praying that you don’t read it; so you won’t know what they are forbidden to do and should be punished for.

Without comprehensive respect for human rights, we are not a republic of laws but a zoo. And that includes the right to be protected from the most insidious evil of the drug trade. Legalizing it would be the equivalent of legalizing murder or in mild cases mugging. It is said that drug addiction is a disease; that is true but the disease afflicts only the victim — the addict; never the perpetrator — the drug dealer. By the same token, human rights includes the right to speak out against government without fear of official retaliation, be it in the light of day or more likely in the dark of night, because overlooking or justifying official intimidation puts us back in the zoo.

As much as we have gathered various stakeholders for a candid and intelligent exchange of ideas and perspectives, this Summit is not ceremonial; it cannot be about self-promotion because holding it acknowledges shortcomings; least of all is it about venting for its own sake. It is about finding ways consistent with the fullest respect for human rights which includes the right to life and safety of the law-abiding.

This Summit is about generating new ideas, encouraging new forms of collaboration and partnership, and inspiring much more action than complaints and excuses that the issue of human rights recedes from the foreground in a country at peace where everyone is safe, because peace is the work of justice which is done through law and not intuition. It is in this regard that the Philippine Government has embarked with the United Nations, through its Resident Coordinator, on the first-ever UN Joint Program on Human Rights.

The multi-year Joint Program on Human Rights will focus on six key areas as highlighted in the Philippines-Iceland joint resolution on “Technical cooperation and capacity building for the promotion and protection of human rights in the Philippines. This was adopted by consensus by the Human Rights Council on 7 October 2020. These are: 1) strengthening domestic investigative and accountability mechanisms; 2) improving data gathering on alleged police violations; 3) civic space and engagement with civil society and the Commission on Human Rights; 4) strengthening the National Mechanism for Reporting and Follow-up; 5) human rights-based approach to counter-terrorism so we don’t invite terrorism by human rights abuses; and 6) human rights-based approach to drug control so the cure is not more awful than the disease.

Under each key area are specific activities that have been identified and developed by the government agencies themselves, in accordance with the national needs,priorities and goals but not to be set aside by the latter considerations. These projects recognize the expertise and technical advice that the UN is able to provide, and have benefited from close consultation with other stakeholders, including civil society and the CHR. I will spare you the details and mention just No. 10.

10. Strengthening the human rights-based approach to combating drugs, including in the areas of prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, recovery, and reintegration of persons who used drugs, as well as on the safeguards pertaining to criminal justice proceedings and the justice sector. But always and ever, putting an end to the drug problem and the prospect of becoming into a narco-state, vivid country examples of which occupy the hall of the UN General Assembly.

I am pleased to share that in a recent plenary session — attended by myself, Secretary Guevarra, UN Resident Coordinator Gustavo Gonzalez, and CHR Chair Jose Luis Martin Gascon, and representatives from other agencies, — we have agreed to endorse the list of projects and undertake the formal drafting of the UN Joint Program on Human Rights, with the hope of finalizing it at the earliest opportunity.

Again, I wish to congratulate Secretary Guevarra, his team at the Department of Justice, his great speechwriter which may be himself, and everyone who made the Human Rights Summit possible; and are making the achievement of its goals certain.

Even abridged that was so long it felt like an abuse of human patience; so I thank you for your kind attention.

Thank you. END