45%
Madam
President, Distinguished Members
High Commissioner for Human
of the Human
Rights Council, and the
Rights — as the world endures the impact of the
pandemic, it is our privilege and duty to speak before you today.
The Commission
on Human
Rights welcomes
the report on the Human
Rights
Situation in the Philippines.
We
consider Government’s
engagement
with the OHCHR
as a sign of greater
cooperation with independent mechanisms, and we acknowledge its response
but
We
regret
and
recommendations.
share the view that while the climate of impunity can
be traced from the
failure
the
public
rejection
to fully address
behavior towards
past
human
of
human
the
conclusions
rights
rights have been
violations,
present
conditioned
inciting hatred, vilifying legitimate dissent, and
attitudes
by harmful
and
rhetoric of
incentivizing violence, allowing
impunity to acutely persist today.
There
is a continuing
obligation
for the State to end
impunity,
pursue
social
justice, and uphold the dignity and human rights of all. Part of this obligation is to
accept the report’s findings and recommendations,
continue to dialogue, take
definitive steps to demonstrate the effectiveness of domestic mechanisms, and
cooperate
with
other
independent
accountability
mechanisms
including
the
special procedures.
The over-reliance
pervading
culture
on a ‘strong-arm’
of impunity.
To
approach
improve
has
the
largely contributed
human
rights
to the
situation,
the
Philippines must change course guided by the human rights-based approach to
democratic governance.