‘Human rights, human lives not separable’

MANILA, Philippines — Former president Benigno Aquino III last Saturday took a swipe at President Duterte for making distinctions between human rights and human lives during his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 23.

“Can we separate the two?” he said in a mix of English and Filipino on the sidelines of Liberal International (LI)’s conferment of the “Prize for Freedom” award upon detained Sen. Leila de Lima in Quezon City.

Latest government data show that 4,354 drug suspects were killed in anti-drug operations since Duterte took office in July 2016. LI president Juli Minoves said the drug war also resulted in 23,000 extrajudicial killings.

Aquino reminded Duterte that people not only in the Philippines but in other parts of the world are accorded with basic human rights.

“Under the Constitution, everybody is entitled to due process,” he said.

Instead of taking note of the Duterte administration’s claims of drug-war success, Aquino said the public should also listen to the families who have lost their loved ones in the crackdown on illegal drugs.

“It’s better to listen to those who are directly affected by the drug war, especially those who have been widowed or orphaned. Their voices should be heard,” Aquino said.

Challenge

For her part, Vice President Leni Robredo last Saturday challenged advocates to make human rights relevant to ordinary citizens as this is “their protector against tyranny.”

Robredo, who served as lawyer for the marginalized before entering into the political arena, said human rights should not remain a “vague, academic idea” for Filipinos. 

Robredo made the statement as she criticized Duterte anew for pitting human rights against human lives in his recent SONA.

The Vice President delivered her remarks at the awarding ceremony for De Lima at Novotel in Cubao.

Aquino, Robredo and De Lima are all from the Liberal Party.

“Beyond speaking truth to power, we must speak truth to the heart of every Filipino. We cannot do this by expecting the man or woman on the street to understand the language of those who have been studying and fighting for human rights for so long,” she said.

“We must use their language. We must see where they are coming from. We must feel their fears and their anger. We must understand their struggles. And we must all speak with one voice,” Robredo said.

Robredo also hit Duterte’s anti-illegal drug campaign, calling it a “battlefield” with “no end in sight.”

“So many lives are on the line in this battlefield. In the past two years, we faced the reality that death and violence have become the preferred means with which to wage the war on illegal drugs – with no end in sight,” she said. – With Helen Flores