EDITORIAL - Where the UNHRC cannot cross

The UN Human Rights Committee is urging the Philippines to pass laws it insists will promote civil and political rights in the country.

The problem? Some of these laws involve the issue of abortion and also divorce, two hot-button topics that remain controversial among Filipinos and in the normally-conservative Philippine society.

The UNHRC said decriminalizing abortion will “guarantee safe, legal and effective access to abortion where the life and health of the pregnant woman or girl is at risk, or where carrying a pregnancy to term would cause the pregnant woman or girl substantial pain or suffering.”

As to divorce, the committee said the Philippines should “expedite the adoption of legislation legalizing divorce with a view to protecting victims of domestic violence.”

The UNHRC clearly does not have an appreciation of Filipino culture if it expects our legislators to pass bills regarding abortion and divorce willy-nilly.

While it may also have something to do with our being the only Catholic country in this part of the world, Filipino culture has long prided itself in strong family ties. And those two issues, abortion and divorce, involve the nature of family.

While the UNHCR may be able to easily dismiss a life, Filipinos will naturally find ways to protect the unborn especially when the unfortunate situation is not its fault. While the committee seems to look at marriage as something one can easily lay aside when it becomes inconvenient, Filipinos naturally want to keep the family together at all costs, for better or for worse.

There is also no guarantee that passing those laws will lead to improvement of civil and political rights. Many countries that have legalized abortion and divorce continue to have the worst human rights abuses in the world.

We understand how organizations like the UNHRC can call the attention of our government when it comes to security issues like extra-judicial killings, but when it decides to cross over the threshold and into our homes by insisting we change our core values then that is another thing entirely.