President Rodrigo Duterte. CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO
Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros on Friday told President Rodrigo Duterte that he has “no right and authority to declare who among the Filipino people have no humanity.”
“President Duterte must understand that humanity and/or the right to human dignity is inviolable,” Hontiveros said in a statement.
She said that Duterte was elected to run the country according to the basic tenets of human rights, and he must implement it among all citizens without exception.
“This government must respect and safeguard the dignity of the human person; the right of each and everyone to human dignity is the basis of many inalienable rights and the foundation of freedom, justice and peace,” she added.
The senator, who is also a vocal human rights advocate, issued the statement after Duterte said on Thursday that criminals have no humanity, in response to a report of Human Rights Watch which said drug-related extrajudicial killings may be considered crimes against humanity.
READ: Duterte: Criminals have no humanity
Hontiveros said that Duterte’s war on drugs is not based on the right of people to human dignity and called it inhumane, abusive and corrupt as it kills many innocent lives and leaves hundreds of orphans.
“Its actors are protected from accountability. It is distorted into murder in the guise of law enforcement. It is distorted into a war against humanity, a war against law and order, a war against freedom, justice and peace,” she said.
“I believe that is the message of the latest reports released by the Human Rights Watch and the United Nations’ International Narcotics Control Board (INCB),” she added.
READ: Duterte criminally liable for ‘human rights calamity’—HRW report
She said that Duterte should subscribe to “proper and modern law enforcement,” and by pledging to this, he should protect human rights, observe the rule of law and promote strategies to public health against substance abuse if he is determined to address the country’s problems.
Hontiveros also noted that this has been proven the best approach to crime and illegal drugs across the world and said that there are no shortcuts to democracy.
“He should understand that crime is rooted in inequality and poverty, and to address social issues is to get to the root of crime,” the senator said.
“An efficient, fair and effective justice system is a better deterrent against crime, and our justice system will only succeed if the officials at its helm are not assailed by corruption scandals,” she added. RAM/rga