President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (right) confers with Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea (left) and then-Special Assitant to the President Christopher Lawrence Go in this photo taken on April 4, 2018. ALBERT ALCAIN/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The government will remain “unrelenting” in its war against drugs, crime and corruption as the world celebrated the 70th year of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, chair of the Presidential Human Rights Committee, said, ”Every administration has its own emphasis and approach in its effort to make human rights real for our people.”
“To protect the lives of the innocent law-abiding citizens of the country, this administration remains unrelenting in its crusade against criminality, corruption, terrorism, insurgency, and the proliferation of illegal drugs that destroy families and the future of the young,” Medialdea said in a statement.
Despite allegations of rising human rights violations under the Duterte regime, Medialdea assured the public that “rule of law is upheld.”
“In all these, the rule of law is upheld as the guilty are brought before the bar of justice,” he said.
On December 10, 1948, the Philippines became the first signatory to the UDHR, “a landmark instrument that would pave the way for core human rights treaties to take shape in the succeeding years.”
“By effectively implementing responsive programs that broaden people’s access to education, healthcare, employment, shelter, food, and basic utilities and services, the government fulfills its aspiration of a respectable standard of living that benefits the most vulnerable and marginalized groups in Philippine society,” he said.
“The government is resolute in uplifting the dignity of every Filipino,” he added.
The government, he said, “is determined to work for sustainable progress that will better the lives of our people and their communities.”
“In our quest for economic development that impacts communities at the grassroots, aggressive horizontal and vertical infrastructure development shall be undertaken to encourage more internal and external investments and partnerships,” he said. /cbb