Democracy alive in PH, Medialdea tells UN rapporteur

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea (File photo by LYN RILLON / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Democracy continued to be alive and well in the Philippines, according to a top Malacañang official in a statement issued apparently in reaction to remarks made by a Filipino United Nations (UN) rapporteur, who had been branded as a terrorist by the Duterte administration for alleged links with the Left.

“Democracy in the Philippines is vibrant and strong,” Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said in a statement.

“All the branches of the government are functioning and the rule of law thrives,” the statement added.

He said comments made by UN Special Rapporteur Victoria Tauli-Corpuz during the Human Rights Festival in Milan, Italy on March 25 “show how detached she is with the realities happening in the Philippines.”

Tauli-Corpuz, a leader of the Kankanaey Igorot people, is the UN rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples.

She was one of 600 people named by the Department of Justice as communist guerrillas in a court petition seeking their declaration as terrorists.

The UN official had denied the government’s allegations and sought the support of the international community.

Speaking at the Milan event, Tauli-Corpuz said the Philippine government had “become very authoritarian.”