Human rights persist even during state of emergency – NUPL

MANILA, Philippines — The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) on Monday said that human rights would remain even during a state of emergency.

“There are and there should be (rights),” noted NUPL, led by its President Atty. Edre Olalia, in its Public Health Emergency and Calamity Bulletin #2.

“But under extraordinary circumstances and conditions, they can be regulated or limited. But even if so limited or regulated, they cannot be totally eradicated like a nasty plague or dissolved into scary invisible droplets especially through great leaps of logic,” it added.

NUPL’s remarks came after Interior and Local Government Undersecretary for Barangay Affairs Martin Diño said in a report that human rights will cease to exist during a state of emergency.

But NUPL said there is no imposition of martial law as imposing the martial rule is not legally and constitutionally justified under the prevailing situation.

It also emphasized that all three branches of government remain in place.

“The Constitution (which includes the Bill of Rights and Social Justice provisions) remains operative, the judiciary and legislative bodies are not supplanted, the right to habeas corpus (or the legal remedy to question in court the legality of one’s arrest) is not automatically suspended and if so suspended are limited to specific instances, and the deadlines for filing charges against arrested persons are not done away with,” NUPL said.

“The right to life, to health, to basic social services, to free expression, free press, participation in matters of public concern, and many other basic rights are not quarantined and even gain more importance and significance during situations such as the present one,” it added.

KGA