President Rodrigo Duterte’s chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo (File photo from Philippine Daily Inquirer)
The Philippines’ re-election to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) shows recognition that the Duterte administration “respects” human rights, according to newly-appointed presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo.
The Philippines received 165 of the 192 votes from member-states to gain a seat in the council during the UN General Assembly last Friday, Oct. 12.
The Philippines would serve its fourth term in the UNHRC from 2018 to 2020.
“A vote of 165 out of the 192 votes cast by Member-States is a recognition that our government respects human rights and will not tolerate abuse by those in authority,” Panelo said in a statement issued on Saturday.
Panelo noted that the country’s selection in the UNHRC was a rejection to the critics of the anti-drug campaign.
“Getting a seat in the UN Human Rights Council is a repudiation of the critics and detractors on President Duterte’s unrelenting war against illegal drugs,” he said.
He added that the community of nations considered the drug problem as a global issue.
“The community of nations has viewed the drug menace as a global problem requiring its utmost attention in forcefully dealing with it and forging a united front against the purveyors of its proliferation across the frontiers of the world,” he said. “The Philippines is at the forefront of this gigantic fight and is showing the way how to slay the dragon of destruction.”
The country has so far served three terms in the UNHRC: from 2007 to 2009, from 2012 to 2014, and from 2016 to 2018.
Human rights groups and the United States slammed the UN for it latest selection of nations to the UN body, saying these are “unqualified” due to their human rights records. /atm