Robredo: Int’l Human Rights Day a call to speak truth in face of oppression

Vice President Leni Robredo

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo hopes the commemoration of International Human Rights Day will be a call to speak the truth in the face of oppression and replace inequality with compassion.

In a statement on Friday, Robredo, who is seeking the presidency in the 2022 elections, said the International Human Rights Day reminds the public of “common humanity,” which means that “regardless of race, color, religion, gender, we are a single human family, bound by a shared commitment to building a better and fairer world for all.”

“We can accomplish this by relentlessly standing up for our rights, and the rights of others, at every opportunity. It also calls for empathy and fellowship, put into practice by the work of looping those in the margins into the cycle of progress and empowerment,” Robredo said.

“It requires embracing solidarity, and the conviction that an injustice committed against a fellow human person is an injustice committed against us all,” she added.

The Vice President also expressed hope that the commemoration serves as a call to defend and uphold the people’s rights.

“May this commemoration serves as a clear call to action—to defend and uphold our rights; to speak truth in the face of oppression; to replace structures of inequality with systems built on compassion; to build, together, a better normal of true inclusiveness and radical solidarity for all,” she said.

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